1001 Domino Nights
by lucidscreamer
Summary: Yugi didn't believe in genies. Not until he freed Atem from a cursed puzzle and discovered the only wish he really wanted was to spend 1001 nights in the genie's arms. AU Harlequin romance fusion. Best Puzzleshipping Story 2009 contest winner. Yami/Yugi
1. Chapter 1

1,001 Domino Nights

A Yugioh alternate-universe (paranormal) romance novel by Lucidscreamer  
(Fusion with the Harlequin romance novel "A Wish…and a Kiss" by Margaret St. George)

Chapter 1

A great writer once speculated that all libraries are connected through something called L-space, and that in the nexus -- _the_ Library, if you will -- exists every book that has ever been or ever will be written.

After a day spent prowling through dusty work-, display, and storage rooms, Yugi was beginning to wonder if there wasn't something similar for museums, and if Crawford Hall was the nexus. Technically, Crawford Hall was not a museum; it was a university archive, packed from lofty rafters to musty basements with the archaeological detritus of almost a century of exploration. Some of the artifacts had been in storage so long no one at Domino University had any idea they were there -- much less _what_ they were or who had found them. Now it was Yugi's appointed task to catalogue every piece of the massive collection by the end of summer. As impossible tasks went, it was Herculean. As a way of getting one short and suddenly controversial archaeologist out of sight and out of mind, it was genius.

Alone at the long worktable he had commandeered for his own, Yugi slumped lower in his chair and wished heartily for a cushion. And some Advil. And possibly a back rub. He was hot, dusty, and exhausted. He hadn't seen another human being in hours, and the weighty silence of the venerable old building was beginning to get to him. The only reason he hadn't given up and gone home, demoralized by the crushing task ahead of him, was the knowledge that the personnel office had promised to send over an assistant and he couldn't afford to pass up even woefully inadequate help. Not that two people had any better chance than one of completing the inventory in the time allotted, but at least his misery would have company. He glanced at his wristwatch. 4:05. Where was this fabled assistant, anyway? If he or she didn't come along soon, Yugi was going to be flopped over the table and snoring by the time they arrived.

Determined to remain awake, he went back to fiddling with the puzzle pieces he had found in a small golden chest in one of the sub-basements. It had been tossed rather ignominiously into a dilapidated cardboard storage carton with a handful of stone axes and the remains of some long-dead explorer's pith helmet, which looked as if it had been chewed by a camel. The carton had fallen apart when Yugi moved it, and the puzzle's box had fallen on his foot, proving it was heavier than it looked. His toes still smarted from the impact.

He turned one of the thick metal pieces over in his hand. The dust had brushed right off, and now each piece shone like a miniature sun when he held it up to the light. They were geometric, made of some metal that looked like gold, but probably wasn't given the carelessness of the artifact's storage, and were the very devil to fit together. He had been working on the puzzle, off and on, for several hours and had only a portion of it completed. For Yugi -- who finished the_ New York Times_ Sunday crossword in less than ten minutes and had never met a Rubik's Cube he didn't like -- this was something of a frustrating novelty. He growled under his breath as he manipulated the puzzle piece, finally finding the proper way to fit it into the form that was slowly taking shape in his hands.

_A pyramid, _he thought, twisting another piece between his fingers._ It's going to be a pyramid._

He eyed what he thought must be the central piece, a large flat shape with a raised Egyptian eye on one side. _I guess a pyramid shape makes sense, what with the hieroglyphs on the box and the Eye of Horus on the puzzle itself… Although… I've never heard of the Egyptians making something like this. Maybe it's just a modern tourist piece that someone lost in the archive?_

Recalling some of the tales his mentor had regaled him with in the past, Yugi would not have been surprised to find that such was the case. He wouldn't be surprised to find the camel that had chewed on that long-dead explorer's helmet stored somewhere in the vast confines of Crawford Hall. For that matter, he almost expected to stumble across said explorer, mummified in red tape and packed away in a forgotten basement.

Another puzzle piece slid into place, this time with surprising ease. Startled out of his reverie, Yugi looked down to find he had completed over half of the puzzle while working on autopilot. A tiny grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Grandpa always did say Yugi's mind got in his way more often than not. Letting his fingers work on their own, he set another three pieces into the growing pyramid shape in rapid succession.

_Well_, he thought wryly, _at least I'll have accomplished_ something _today_. Even if it was just putting a souvenir puzzle together.

-------------------

Yugi's eyes were sliding shut when he finally fitted the center piece into the puzzle. It was, as he had thought it would be, a golden pyramid, large enough to fill his hand when he cradled it in his palm. He set the last piece in place, yawned, and then yelped as the pyramid seemed to pulse with heat and light. Startled, he dropped the pyramid. It clattered to the floor under the table. Grumbling to himself, Yugi eased down onto one knee and scrabbled blindly for the errant artifact.

"I have come to do your bidding-- Master?"

The voice, totally unexpected and startling in the oppressive quiet of the workroom, made Yugi jump. His head banged into the bottom of the solid oak table and he cursed under his breath. "Ow!"

"Master?" The voice, which was definitely male, sounded confused and a bit irritated. "Where _are_ you?"

Clutching the puzzle in one hand and his aching head in the other, Yugi climbed back into his chair. He got a vague impression of the person standing across from him -- tall, male, and annoyed. Well, fine. At the moment, Yugi wasn't feeling too cheerful himself.

"Oh," said the other man. "There you are." He cleared his throat, and his deep voice took on a tone laden with portent. "I have come to do your bidding."

"Peachy." Yugi briefly considered "bidding" the voice's owner to fetch him some aspirin. Yugi's new headache was _his_ fault, after all. It was the least he could do. However, Yugi had never been one to abuse power, so, instead, he squinted up at his new assistant. He seemed rather theatrical -- and it had certainly taken him long enough to arrive -- but Yugi wasn't going to look a gift horse, er, assistant in the mouth.

Then he got his first real look at the man.

When Yugi had picked his metaphorical jaw up off the floor, and beaten his hormones into temporary submission, he managed a single, coherent thought. At least the summer wouldn't be boring. Not with _this_ prime specimen of eye-candy around to keep him occupied.

The man was taller than Yugi -- though that wasn't saying much, as most people over the age of twelve were taller than Yugi. He had surprisingly broad shoulders considering his "long and lean" build, with tanned, well-muscled arms revealed by the sleeveless black shirt he wore. Tight black jeans hugged narrow hips and seemingly endless legs. A silver chain encircled his waist in place of a belt, and thick leather cuffs with matching studs enclosed both wrists. His hair was a wild halo, dark at the roots but flaming red where the light caught it at the tips. A curtain of jagged bangs, as golden as the puzzle still clutched in Yugi's hand, framed a handsome face with sharp, aristocratic features and eyes the color of mahogany.

Yugi had to remind himself to breathe. He wet his lips and said, "Um, I'm Dr. Mutou -- Yugi, you can call me Yugi, everybody does, I don't mind. I'm the assistant dean of archaeology. Uh, I guess they told you that at the personnel office when they sent you over."

Yugi resisted the urge to bury his face in his palm, all too aware that he was babbling. "Anyway, we've got a tremendous job ahead of us this summer and not much pay or glory awaits us at its end. I'll be honest with you. There's no way the two of us are going to finish inventorying this building by the start of fall classes. It'll take a miracle just to complete one floor. Remember that warehouse at the end of the first _Indiana Jones_ movie? Yeah, it has nothing on Crawford Hall. The Ark of the Covenant is probably hiding in here somewhere, along with a stuffed camel and my spare keys, which I could have sworn were in my pocket, but I haven't seen them since last Thursday. So..."

Having run out of breath, Yugi pasted on what he hoped was an encouraging smile -- but suspected was more like a nervous rictus -- and soldiered on in the face of his new assistant's intimidating scowl. "Most of this stuff has been here so long everyone's forgotten it's even here. The bad news is that there's _a lot _of stuff." He glanced around the room. Floor-to-ceiling shelves loomed in every direction, and every shelf overflowed with cartons, crates, and boxes filled with… stuff. "The good news is that we might uncover a forgotten treasure or two, if we're lucky."

Yugi paused, waiting for a response that never came. The other man simply watched him with unblinking eyes, like a great cat waiting to pounce. Or maybe like someone who had heard all the rumors about Yugi and was waiting to see if they were true. He stood still as a statue, except for the fingers on one hand, which absently rubbed the smooth leather of the cuff on his opposite wrist.

Never one to let an awkward silence go unfilled, Yugi mentally flailed around for something else to say. "Uh, for example--" His hands clenched, and the sudden bite of a sharp metal edge reminded him of the puzzle he still held. "--this pyramid puzzle! I've never seen anything quite like it, and I only discovered it by accident while going through some… other…"

Yugi trailed off, recognizing the complete lack of expression on the other's face for what it was: utter boredom. Sheer indifference. A barely concealed desire for Yugi to shut the hell up about inconsequentials and just _get on with it_ already. Yugi felt heat suffuse his face and quickly dropped his gaze to his hands as he fidgeted with the puzzle.

"Um, sorry. I sometimes forget that not everyone is as enthusiastic about archaeology as I am." Yugi glanced up to find the other man watching him, arms folded. The pose stretched the black shirt taut across his chest, emphasizing the lean muscle there. "Anyway, the hours are long and the pay stinks, but I'll try to be a good boss, at least, and so the job's yours if you want it."

The man's expression didn't alter. "I am yours to command, most learned master." The impatience in the deep baritone was at odds with the low bow that accompanied his words.

Yugi stared at him. Oh, great. The personnel center had sent him a crazy person. A _handsome_ crazy person, but a crazy person nonetheless. Peachy. Too bad Yugi was just desperate enough to take him on anyway. "Okay, then. I guess that means you'll take the job. So… What do I call you?"

Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Insane did not roll his eyes, but Yugi could see the impulse to do so writ large in their depths. "I am your genie, master. You may address me in whatever manner you see fit."

The self-proclaimed genie's second bow was as deep and graceful as the first, though Yugi detected a hint of mockery in this one. As if _Yugi_ were being the weird one in this conversation. "Seriously, though. What's your name?"

A dark eyebrow rose. "You wish to know my true name?"

"Well, it would beat calling you 'hey, you' all summer." Yugi had no compunctions about rolling _his_ eyes. "It's not a secret, is it? Or have you forgotten it?"

"I know my name." The man's voice was like velvet, even when taut with annoyance. "It is simply that no one has asked me my name in… a very long time."

Yugi blinked. "Either you've got a strange sense of time, or they were being more lax than usual over at personnel, because it couldn't have been _that_ long since you were in the office--"

"It has been more than two centuries."

Oh, good. The man really was insane. Yugi did _so_ enjoy being right. Just once, he'd like to be right about something _positive_, but you had to take your victories where you could get them. He sighed. "Look, Mr. No-Name. It would take a team of experts plus Indiana Jones at least a year to inventory this mess. I have one summer and the clock is ticking. I don't have time to play games--"

"Atem."

"Gesundheit."

It seemed impossible, but the man's posture radiated even more resentment than before. "My _name_ is Atem."

"Oh. Sorry." Yugi breathed a little laugh, cheeks heating up with embarrassment. "Uh, just 'Atem'? You don't have a last name or--?"

"There is more--" Atem's jaw clenched so hard it made _Yugi's_ mouth ache. "--but I doubt you could pronounce it. Master."

"_Ooo-_kay. Atem it is, then!" Yugi clapped his hands briskly -- or tried to; the puzzle got in his way. Embarrassed, he set it on the table. "Do I detect the trace of an accent? Where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?"

Looking up, he found Atem studying him with narrowed eyes that, from Yugi's angle, seemed to glint almost red in the artificial light. "Uh, never mind. Didn't mean to pry! I was just making conversation, which is obviously not the best idea I've ever had, so let's move on, shall we?"

Turning his gaze away from the unforgiving stare in those mahogany eyes, Yugi began gathering up the artifacts scattered on the table and placing them back into the carton. He eyed the completed puzzle. It would never fit back into its box in its current state, but it seemed a shame to dismantle it again.

As if sensing the direction of Yugi's thoughts, Atem said, "The puzzle is no longer of any importance. It does not matter what you do with it." Ignoring Yugi's stare, he ran his long fingers across the battered surface of the table as if reading the wood's history in Braille.

"Huh?"

"The puzzle will shatter -- and vanish -- once you have made your third wish."

And they were back to the genie thing. _Peachy_. Yugi couldn't quite figure out why Atem had seen him working on the puzzle and made the leap to _genie_, of all things -- it might be different if Yugi had been cleaning a lamp or a ring -- but the joke was getting old. He shook his head. It was late in the day, he was tired, and his leg hurt.

Deciding to ignore the comment and hope that was the end of it, Yugi said, "Would you do me a favor and bring me my cane? I left it over by the door."

An absent gesture indicated the proper direction while Yugi concentrated on tucking the puzzle and its box into a corner of the carton. That done, he bent to retrieve his briefcase from beneath his chair. He would prefer not to see the expression in those mahogany eyes when Atem realized that Yugi was--

"Your cane, Master Mutou."

Yugi jumped. Atem must have run all the way across the room and back to retrieve the cane that fast, though Yugi hadn't heard him, and surely his steps would have echoed on the wooden floor if he had run. But Atem held the cane out to him, laid across his palms like an offering.

"Um… Thanks." Dreading what he might see there, Yugi's gaze flickered up to meet Atem's as he rose and took the cane. But Atem's regal mask remained unchanged, his indifference unbroken by even a hint of curiosity. Perversely, that very indifference made Yugi determined to explain.

"I walk with a cane sometimes because I have one leg that is shorter and weaker than the other. An accident at birth -- my parents were on a dig in a remote area in Turkey and I was about a month and a half early." He shrugged. "It's not usually a problem, but when I'm very tired or have put a lot of stress on my leg, well…"

Yugi's calf muscles twinged at the reminder of all the climbing he had done today, up and down both countless stairs and the ladder he had used to reach some of the higher shelves. In the future, he thought he would leave the upper reaches of the collection to his new assistant. Too bad the elevators -- ancient, creaking metal cages that did not inspire confidence at the best of times, but sometimes beat taking the stairs if his leg hurt badly enough -- were still not working. Yugi thought he might have braved them today, rather than shuffling down three flights of stairs to reach the ground floor. He groaned at the thought. He had definitely overdone it.

Moving slowly, Yugi started for the distant door. "It's nice to have the cane, especially for all the stairs that are in this building."

"Yes, I know."

Huh? Yugi shot him a confused glance. "Know? What do you know?"

"Everything." A faint smirk graced Atem's lips. "I know everything about you."

Okay, that was just creepy. And kind of stalkerish. What exactly were those clowns in personnel saying about him anyway? Were the gossips blabbing all the sordid details about last summer to _everyone_ on campus? Yugi's brows drew together in a dark frown. "What did they tell you before they sent you over here, anyway? Is this somebody's idea of a joke? 'Cause I have to tell you, it's not funny."

"Master?"

Yugi opened his mouth to tell Atem to knock off the genie shtick -- and froze, his mouth hanging open as if he had forgotten how to close it. Instead of the corridor outside the workroom, they were standing in front of Crawford Hall. Yugi's jaw worked a couple of times, but no sound emerged. Impossible! He had no memory of navigating the narrow stairwells that led from the third floor down to the lobby, or of crossing the expansive, marble tiled lobby and exiting onto the front steps of the venerable edifice. The briefcase fell from his suddenly numb fingers. Yugi reached instinctively for something to anchor himself in this spinning mockery of reality, and latched onto Atem's arm as he stared at his impossible surroundings with wide, startled eyes.

Everything else seemed normal enough. Students strolled across the concrete paths connecting the buildings, or sat on benches to chat or study. A few people lounged beneath the trees that dotted the greensward just up the hill from Crawford Hall. Water bubbled and splashed in the fountain in the courtyard below. No one even glanced in Yugi's direction. His fingers tightened on the bare arm he clung to like a lifeline while he tried to get his racing heart to slow.

Beside Yugi, Atem closed his eyes and raised his face to the late-afternoon sun. As if to himself, he murmured, "The heat of the sun, the scent of grass and trees and water… No memory, no illusion or feat of imagination can reproduce this--" He broke off when Yugi's nails dug into his arm. The usual frown stole back over Atem's face. "Master? Are you unwell?"

Yugi snatched his hand away from Atem's bare arm, balled his tingling fingers into a fist, then straightened one finger to shake it in Atem's face. "You -- What -- _How_?!"

Atem's brow furrowed in a look that managed to combine frustration, irritation, and a complete lack of sympathy. "What displeases you _now_?"

Too busy trying to figure out how he had apparently blacked-out and lost time while still managing to walk from the third floor of Crawford Hall all the way to the outside steps, Yugi ignored the question. He pressed a trembling hand to his forehead, where he could feel a doozy of a tension headache settling in for an overnight stay, and tried to think. In a distracted voice, he mumbled, "Did I lock the door?" He couldn't remember that, either.

"If you desire the door to be locked, then it is locked, master."

Yugi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, the genie stuff was cute -- for about five seconds -- but I'm over that now. And stop calling me _master_!"

Instantly contrite, Yugi sighed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I've had a very long day. I'm tired, I ache all over, and now I'm apparently having some sort of nervous breakdown. So, I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop acting like a genie, okay?"

Atem's mouth twisted into something bitter and humorless that not even an eternal optimist like Yugi could call a smile. "Believe me, Master Mutou, if I could stop acting like a genie, I would."

Whatever that meant. Yugi couldn't stop to figure it out; he could still feel the panic surging through his veins and his patience had just about run out. "Look, I really mean it. Don't call me 'master' -- and 'Master Mutou' is even worse. I'm not sure whether it sounds like I should be wearing Jedi robes or bondage gear, but either way is just plain _weird_, so cut it out. Call me doctor or professor or Yugi -- but no more 'master'! Please?"

Yugi started down the steps -- needing the extra help of his cane more than ever, since his knees were shaky and his stomach wouldn't seem to stop trying to turn itself inside out -- his hand white-knuckled on the curving handle of the cane. Without looking back at Atem, he called, "I'll see you on Monday, all right? Eight a.m. sharp. Good-bye!"

"Would you like me to carry your briefcase?"

Atem's voice sounded in Yugi's ear, far too close, as if the man had teleported from the top of the steps to Yugi's side. Yugi yelped, stumbled, and would have fallen if Atem had not caught him. Atem righted Yugi and let him go -- all so matter-of-factly that Yugi found it impossible to take offense. Still, he gave it his best shot, just on principle. Unfortunately for him, Yugi had never been very good at glaring, so the resulting expression was more of a pout than the intimidating glower he had been going for.

"Thanks," Yugi mumbled, shifting away from the taller man. "But I don't think we're going in the same direction."

Atem apparently held a black-belt in the ancient art of Glower-fu. "You are the most confusing master I have ever had. I've no idea how to interpret half the things you say. It is extremely… annoying."

Yugi ground to an unsteady halt beneath the massive unfairness of that accusation. "_Me_?! _I'm_ confusing? _I'm_ annoying? Hello, Mr. Pot, Mr. Kettle is on line four, something about the color black!"

"Thank you for proving my point, master," Atem said stiffly. His hands were braced on his hips and the look in his eyes declared Yugi 'King of the Obtuse.' "Is it not obvious that I must go where you go? I must remain within reach of the sound of your voice at all times. I have no choice in the matter -- it is the rule."

Rule? What the hell was Atem talking about? "What the hell are you talking about?"

Atem's eyes glittered through narrowed lids. "You summoned me by solving the puzzle, O most confounding master. Yet you spoke as if you wished me to serve you by choice. You wish the contents of that building inventoried, yet you state it cannot be done. You pry into my history, but are angered that I know yours--"

"I just wanted to know your name!"

Atem raked a hand through his bangs and gritted his teeth. "And, now, you bid me farewell as if our business is concluded, when clearly it is not, and act surprised when I follow you, even though you have made no wishes!"

The truth hit Yugi like a collapsing pyramid. Atem believed everything he was saying. This wasn't a joke. The poor man really thought he was a genie. Yugi wondered why he hadn't realized it sooner. Now, all Yugi had to do was figure out how to get Atem back to his family -- or his therapist, or his keepers, or whatever the applicable term was -- before something happened to the unfortunate fellow.

"I'm sorry I didn't understand sooner." Yugi patted Atem's arm. At least the nice delusional man was a _nice_ delusional man. Yugi's luck tended to run more toward "megalomaniac convinced destroying Yugi was the key to taking over the world." Case in point: Marik Ishtar. Yugi hadn't dated for an entire year after _that_ fiasco. He still cringed whenever anyone mentioned ancient Egypt or pharaohs, which in his line of work was unfortunately quite frequently. Giving himself a shake, he focused again on the current crisis, patting Atem's arm again and trying to look around for a campus security officer without _looking_ like he was looking for a campus security officer. "Can you tell me your doctor's name?"

Atem glared at him. _Damn_, but the man really had that expression down pat. He must get a lot of practice. Maybe he could give Yugi some tips. Yugi took a second look. Probably not, judging by the waves of indignation rolling off the man like desert heat.

"What?" Then Yugi realized what he had said. Oops. Stuck his foot in it again. "Or, um, not doctor. Not doctor, but… the head genie? Yeah. I'm sure the head genie would want to know what a good job of… genie-ing you've done, today. So, why don't we give him a call and--"

The look Atem gave him said in no uncertain terms who Atem thought was the deranged one here. Time to try a different tack. Yugi smiled -- it sagged a bit at the corners, but it was still a smile, damn it! -- and, in a falsely cheerful voice, said, "I think it's time for you to go home, now. Do you know where you live? The address, I mean. If you'll tell me, I'll take you there in my car. I'll bet someone is getting awfully worried about you."

"You think that I am insane," Atem said, in a tone dripping with disbelief. His eyes widened. "You do not believe me. You think that I am an escaped lunatic."

"Don't be silly!" Where was a SWAT team when Yugi needed one? Incredulous anger bloomed on the self-proclaimed genie's face, and Yugi cringed. _Operation: Placation_ wasn't working. Just his luck he was too tired and achy to run, too. He tried the arm pat again. "Of course I believe you! You're a genie. I'm sure you're a very _good_ genie--"

Atem lifted Yugi's hand off his arm and took a single stride back. His expression was as dark as a thundercloud, and suddenly his jagged bangs reminded Yugi of lightning bolts about to strike. A storm of epic proportions brewed in those mahogany eyes as Atem drew himself up to his full height -- and did he seem taller suddenly, as if he had shot up at least a foot when he straightened? -- and glared at Yugi.

"I appeared when you solved the puzzle. When you asked for your cane, I summoned it to my hand. To spare you pain, I moved you from the upper floor of the building to the terrace in the blink of an eye. Your 'impossible' inventory is completed." Atem's jaw tightened until the color bled from his skin. "What more must I do to convince you, my most skeptical master, that I am what I say I am?"

Yugi gripped his cane, leaning heavily on it as his mind raced. That flash of light and heat when he'd completed the puzzle -- could that have been Atem appearing, as he claimed? Yugi shook his head. No, that was nuts! How could he even entertain such an idea? But…

How had he gotten from the workroom to outside so quickly? He had taken a step across the threshold and wound up on the terrace. It couldn't be real. But what was the logical explanation?

"This isn't happening," Yugi whispered. His mouth felt as dry as the Sahara, and he swallowed painfully. "I don't believe it. It can't be…" He darted a look up at Atem. "I don't believe in genies."

"Unfortunately, your belief does not affect my state of being, master. Would that it did."

Yugi didn't even attempt to winkle the meaning out of that one. His head spinning, he clutched his briefcase to his chest like a shield, and tried not to hyperventilate. "What did you -- You said-- That is, I thought you said that… Um. The inventory?"

"It is finished." Atem crossed his arms over his chest, sunlight glinting off the studs at his wrists and the chain threaded through his belt loops. "Every item, in every room, on every floor."

"But… That's…" Yugi swayed. "Crawford Hall is five stories tall and has two basement levels."

"Every item. In every room. On every floor." The genie's tone was implacable. "Each item is cross-referenced as to provenance, type of artifact, age and composition …"

Impossible. What Atem was claiming was impossible. You couldn't just wish up an inventory (Yugi had spent about half an hour that morning trying). He grabbed at the first logical objection that floated past him on his sea of confusion. "Yeah, well… If what you say is true, then where is it? Where's the inventory list?" Ha! Yugi had him now!

"On your worktable. The hard copy is in thirty-three notebooks. The electronic copy, along with a back-up copy, is in the small plastic case next to them."

"Oh, yeah? We'll just see about that!" Yugi snapped, having spotted the flaw in Atem's delusion. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he set off back into Crawford Hall at the fastest clip he could manage. "Wait there! I want to see this so-called inventory for myself."

"I must remain within range of your voice."

Oh, yeah. The "genie rules." Just who the heck came up with such stupid rules, anyway? Yugi wanted a word with Rule Guy, since this particular stupid rule meant he was about to be alone in a deserted building with a delusional man who thought he was a genie and that Yugi was his master. This, Yugi couldn't help feeling, was Not a Good Thing, despite the fact that Delusional Genie Guy was gorgeous and--

Yugi choked on his own breath. One second he was storming -- okay, limping, but the intent was there -- toward the main entrance of Crawford Hall, and in the next, he was standing in front of his worktable on the third floor. The inadequate lights gleamed off the shiny covers of thirty-three neatly stacked and labeled binders. Beside the stack rested a clear plastic case containing the promised computer media files.

Yugi's heart slammed against his ribcage. Spots danced before his eyes. He stared at the notebooks, then at Atem. "You..."

Atem raised an eyebrow. He managed -- just-- not to appear smug, but it was clearly a struggle.

"I'm…" Yugi swallowed, hard. "I'm not dreaming, right? Sometimes, I fall asleep at my desk and--"

"You are quite awake, master."

"And that's--" Yugi reached out a trembling hand and flipped open one of the binders, turning a few pages. He felt dizzy. "Oh, and it's illustrated. In full color. How… nice." Like the room around him, Yugi's voice was fading. "And, you did all this in, like, sixty seconds."

"Yes, master."

"Atem?"

"Yes, master?"

"You're a genie!" Yugi said -- and fainted onto a silk-covered couch that hadn't been there a heartbeat ago.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Atem transported the couch - and a still-unconscious Yugi Mutou - to Yugi's home on Checkerboard Lane. The white clapboard house was small and tidy, and furnished in a style at least two decades out of date. That would change, of course, once Yugi made his wishes. No doubt Yugi would expend his first wish on wealth, as they all did. Humans were a greedy and predictable lot. Yugi would exchange this modest dwelling for a palatial mansion and a lifestyle fit for a modern prince.

Atem conjured a glass of red wine and sipped it, rolling the liquid on his tongue and savoring the earthy taste as he contemplated his master. Unconscious, Yugi appeared younger and almost innocent, with his rounded cheeks and soft mouth. For a moment, Atem could almost believe this master would be different.

Shaking his head, he banished such foolish thoughts. If the passing millennia had taught him anything, it was that human nature did not change. He knew better than to expect anything but the worst from those who solved his puzzle. Greed, self-interest, poisonous ambition. Like every master before him, Yugi would wish for power, wealth - possibly revenge.

Atem swallowed a mouthful of wine, hoping to wash the taste of bitter, hard-won lessons from his mouth. He didn't care anymore. His masters were much the same, the only difference being that some were worse than others. He no longer bothered to hide his contempt for their venality, or the resentment he felt at being forced to pander to their whims. Few of them noticed, too absorbed in gloating over new-found riches to care what the instrument of their good fortune thought of them.

He set the wineglass on the mantelpiece, his fingers lingering on the cool, slick surface of the goblet. He had consumed half a glass of the deep red wine, but the glass refilled itself even as his attention was drawn to the vase of fresh-cut flowers beside it. He plucked a rose from the bouquet and inhaled its spicy fragrance, letting the velvet-soft petals caress the tip of his nose. The scent intoxicated him, reminding him of the gardens in the courtyards of his father's palace, so long ago.

The pain of that faded memory stabbed at his heart like a viper's bite. He shunted it swiftly away and turned his gaze outward again. The magic that bound him told him everything he needed to know to serve each master, though the knowledge tended to remain dormant until triggered by an external cue - such as the photographs sitting on Yugi's mantelpiece. He studied the first in the row, a group photo of Yugi's family. The magic told Atem the picture had been taken a few days before the cave-in that had claimed the lives of Yugi's parents and grandfather. In the photo, a teenaged Yugi stood with his arms around his mother on one side and his grandfather on the other. His father, slightly taller than the rest of the family, hovered in the background. All of them were grinning at the camera. None of them had a clue that by the end of the day, three of them would be dead and the fourth gravely injured.

Beside the framed photo, a collection of pottery shards, loose clay beads, and broken bits of faience served as reminders of past digs. Atem picked up one of the beads and rolled it between his fingers. The rough texture of the incised design against his skin mesmerized him. Before the curse, long ago when he had been a human man, he had worn strands of such beads, though his were made of gold or precious stones. He had even worn beads of faience and clay, though never anything as plain as this one. Yet, the simple clay bead spoke to him of home. For an instant, he felt torn between stroking the bead or crushing it beneath his heel. He slapped the bead back onto the mantel and turned away, his gaze drawn to Yugi, still sprawled where he had fainted, on the silk-covered couch. Did the mortal realize how lucky he was to be surrounded daily by fresh sensations, by life in all its messy glory? Nothing Atem's magic could weave would ever equal what Yugi already possessed.

A change in the energies filling the space around him alerted Atem to the fact that Yugi was waking up. Atem watched Yugi spring up from the couch and fling himself back from it as if he thought the couch would attack him. His legs hit the edge of his own sofa - a worn relic of a past decade, with overstuffed cushions and the ugliest upholstery Atem had ever seen - and Yugi collapsed onto it with a yelp. Satisfied the silk covered couch had served its purpose, Atem banished it back to the ether. The Mutou living room was crowded enough without throwing additional furniture into the mix.

Yugi blanched when the couch vanished. He yanked his legs up onto the sofa as if fearing the floor would go next. "Don't _do_ that!"

"Do _what_?" Atem snapped. Really, Yugi was the most contrary master he had encountered in almost four thousand years.

"That, that-" Yugi waved a hand in a vague, flailing-for-words gesture. "-silent magic thing! You're going to give me a heart attack. I need some kind of warning so I can prepare for it. Snap your fingers, or do an _I Dream of Jeannie_ blink. Say 'alakazam'. I don't care, just give me some kind of signal!"

"As you command, my histrionic master." It took some effort, but Atem did not roll his eyes. He resented the enforced servitude of his role as a genie, but could do nothing to thwart it. The rules imposed upon him by the curse left him little choice but to obey or be punished. He was not, however, so wrapped up in his own frustrations that he missed how shaken Yugi appeared.

None of his previous masters had ever fainted at his appearance or made him prove his magic. They had accepted at once that he was a genie and made their three wishes, returning him to his extra-dimensional prison. Of course, Yugi's unexpected disbelief was adding time to Atem's stay in the real world, outside the dark dreams created by the curse to hold him. Perhaps a bit of additional aggravation was a fair price to pay for a few more hours of true life.

Yugi twisted his fingers in his lap. His hands shook. "Are you really real? I mean, you look real, and you feel-" He broke off, his cheeks flushing bright red. "Uh, that is, you seem pretty solid and all. But, you _can't_ be real… Can you?"

"I can - and I am." Dealing with this continued denial of his reality, being forced to waste his precious time in the physical plane with such nonsense when he could be storing up sensory impressions for the long centuries to come, irritated Atem. He raised one eyebrow. "Do you truly think I am nothing but a figment of your imagination?"

"I don't know!" Yugi dry-washed his hands over his face. "I have a pretty vivid imagination. Ask anybody."

"I assure you, I am quite real." Atem conjured a second wineglass and pressed it into Yugi's hands, wrapping Yugi's fingers around the stem. Through that brief contact, he felt the tremors running through his master's body. "Drink the wine, my master. It will make you feel better."

Yugi gulped, fingers twitching beneath Atem's as he tried to simultaneously clutch the wineglass and shove it away. "_Signals_, damn it! No amount of wine is going to help if my heart stops because you couldn't remember to announce your next magic trick."

"…Fine." The goblet vanished, leaving Yugi clutching air.

"Gah!"

In a voice devoid of inflection, Atem intoned, "Alakazam."

The glass reappeared in Yugi's hand. He fumbled it, splashing red wine onto his slacks. Very carefully, every movement deliberate and slow, he set the glass on the coffee table. "I was wrong. It doesn't help."

"It would be more efficacious if you _drank_ the wine rather than attempting to bathe in it," Atem noted blandly.

Yugi shot him a blistering look. "I meant the signal. 'Alakazam.' It didn't help."

Atem shrugged. While a part of him would enjoy prolonging his stay in the physical plane, a greater part - the part thoroughly disillusioned with humanity - just wanted to conclude this transaction and return to his dreams. In a tired voice, he said, "Drink the wine, master."

Yugi huffed, sagged, and upended the glass, draining it in one gulp. When he lowered the glass, it was full again. His eyes widened. "Well," he said flatly. "That's handy."

_Yes_, thought Atem. _It can be_. And if genies could get drunk, he would have been only too ready to make good use of the never-ending reservoir in his own wineglass. "Have you decided upon your first wish?"

"I don't even know where to begin," Yugi mumbled, still staring at his glass as if it might bite him. He didn't seem to have heard the question.

"Master?"

"I have a million questions, and I don't have a clue where to start!"

Both of Atem's eyebrows lifted toward his hairline. He stopped rubbing his fingertips over the worn carvings of the wooden frame that held the photo of Yugi's family, and sent Yugi a look filled with carefully concealed surprise. Such curiosity was not a usual component of his interaction with those who solved the puzzle. Unsure how to deal with it, Atem opted to ignore it.

"You summoned me here by solving the pyramid puzzle," he stated in a bored, flat tone. "I am required to grant you three wishes. When your wishes have been granted, the puzzle will shatter and vanish, as will I." He looked down his nose at Yugi. "What more can you possibly need to know?"

"Everything!" Yugi swept his arms out in a broad gesture that almost toppled his wineglass. With barely a conscious thought, Atem made the glass vanish and reappear as Yugi's flailing arm passed through the space where it sat. "That doesn't even scratch the surface of what I want to know about you!"

Startled, Atem drew back, his posture unconsciously regal even after nearly four millennia of servitude. "I am not here to satisfy your idle curiosity. My task is to grant wishes."

The formality of his response seemed to subdue Yugi's enthusiasm. Yugi fell back to twining his fingers together in his lap and peering at Atem from beneath a messy curtain of bangs. Oddly enough, Yugi's hairstyle somewhat resembled Atem's, though Yugi's bangs fell in soft disarray about his face, rather than standing out stiffly as Atem's did. He could only assume that Yugi chose to look as he did - surely, hair like that could not be natural - though he could not fathom why he would do so. Atem's appearance, in terms of his hair and clothing, was largely dictated by the curse which had bound him. It made allowances for the trends of the time period in which he found himself - and adjusted for the individual tastes of his masters - but made few concessions to Atem's own desires in the matter.

He shook his head, dismissing the thought as trivial. Fashion was the least of his concerns. He would not be here long enough for it to matter, anyway. He moved slowly about the room - automatically touching, smelling, listening - even though he realized the futility of his actions. When he returned to the shadowy realm that served as his prison between masters, all the sensory impressions he had gathered would fade, their pale ghosts offering scant comfort. That knowledge did not stop him from lifting a ceramic pot, feeling the slick texture of its glaze, and sniffing the fruity scent of the potpourri inside.

"So… What happens now?" Yugi asked.

Atem set the potpourri aside and reached for a covered glass dish in the shape of a blue chicken sitting on a nest. It looked ridiculous. He didn't bother to leave off his examination of the tacky object as he drawled, "On the table before you are three tokens."

Without looking, Atem knew exactly what Yugi was seeing. Three small, golden, hexagonal tokens shimmered into being on the coffee table. One side of each token held a stamped image of the completed pyramid puzzle; the other, a vaguely Egyptian-looking eye, identical to the one on the puzzle's center piece. The tokens were the size of large coins, though slightly thicker. Atem could feel the pull of their magic from across the room.

"For each wish you make, you must surrender a token." Atem lifted the top of the dish to reveal the candies inside. He lifted one of the colorful blobs and gave it an experimental sniff. "Once you have given me the token, I will grant your wish. But you must be mindful of this rule: I cannot grant your wish unless you derive a direct benefit from it. "

From the corner of his eye, Atem saw Yugi give an absent nod as he stared at the three tokens. Satisfied, Atem cautiously placed the little candy blob between his teeth and crunched. Sweet… little bits of hard candy shell… chocolate! He scooped up a handful of the candy, and deposited the dish back on the side table where he had found it. Turning, he found that Yugi had transferred his thoughtful stare from the tokens to Atem, who raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"It's just… I've never really thought about it, since I didn't think they were real, but I would never have imagined a genie that looks like you."

Atem's brow furrowed. Had he just been insulted? "Dare I ask how you imagined genies to look?"

"I don't know. More…" Yugi's hands traced a voluptuous hourglass shape in the air. "More Barbara-Eden-ish. Or big and blue, with Robin Williams' voice."

After a moment - during which the two of them stared blankly at one another and Atem decided that, yes, he _had_ been insulted - Yugi continued, "I guess I have all these pop-culture images in my head, and you just don't-"

Apparently catching the affronted look on Atem's face, Yugi started babbling. "Not that you look bad or anything! In fact, you look _really_ go- I mean, you're very- Oh, god." Yugi buried his face in his hands, but not before Atem had seen the blush. It was fiery red, this time. A muffled, "Never mind!" wafted up from the depths of Yugi's mortification.

"I suppose," Atem grated through tightly clenched teeth, "you would find something like _this_ more convincing?"

Between one breath and the next, Atem's clothing changed. Gone were the jeans, sleeveless t-shirt, and boots. In their place was a costume straight out of _1001 Arabian Nights_, as interpreted by Walt Disney.

Black harem pants of diaphanous silk ballooned over curly-toed, gold lamé slippers. A tiny, black brocade vest, heavy with gold embroidery, made no pretense at covering Atem's chest. Broad gold bands enclosed his wrists and encircled his biceps. Large gold hoops hung from his ears, and a black silk turban hid most of his hair. He felt like a clown.

Atem crossed his arms over his mostly-bare torso and leveled an impatient frown at Yugi. "Does _this_ meet your expectations, master?"

Silence stretched between them, while Atem glowered and Yugi…

Atem blinked, puzzled. Yugi appeared to be frozen, except for his mouth, which worked soundlessly for a moment before he managed a noise halfway between a moan and a squeak. His eyes were the approximate size of small saucers.

This, Atem decided, was becoming tiresome. "It is just _magic_, Master Mutou. Really, if you're going to overreact like this every time I -"

"Oh. My. _God_." Yugi toppled sideways onto the sofa and made a spirited attempt to disappear under the cushions. He managed to burrow deep enough that his head and shoulders were lost beneath a pile of throw pillows. He mumbled something unintelligible into the pillows, and flailed a hand in Atem's general direction.

"Forgive me, O articulate one, but I do not speak 'pillow.'"

Yugi surfaced with a gasp. Atem didn't know how to interpret the look in Yugi's eyes when he darted a look the genie's way. "I said go back to what you had on before!"

"As you wish." With ill-concealed relief, Atem reverted to his previous attire.

Yugi twitched. "Alakazam, remember? Or snap your fingers. Something, _any_thing. Okay?"

Atem's only response was a faint smirk. Yugi's strange behavior might be throwing Atem off-guard, but the genie clearly still had the upper hand.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not happy in your work?" Yugi muttered. Atem schooled his features back into his usual aloof mask. "You don't like being a genie, do you?" Yugi sighed. "You don't seem to like _me_ much, either."

"If my demeanor has offended you, I offer my humble apologies." Atem performed a stiff, though graceful, bow. "You have only to declare what behavior troubles you, most gracious master, and I shall cease it at once."

"Well, you could take that stick out of your ass, for starters."

It was a toss-up as to which pair of eyes were wider, Yugi's or Atem's. After a frozen second, Atem's eyes narrowed dangerously. Master or not, no one spoke to him like that! Responding to his agitation, his magic crackled around him.

Yugi's eyes got even wider, a feat Atem would not have thought possible, and Yugi clapped a hand over his mouth. Through his fingers, he uttered a muffled, "Sorry! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud. It's been a very long day."

"Just make a damned wish, will you?" Atem snapped. The sooner this ordeal was over, the better. For both their sakes. He had never _actually_ zapped one of his masters, despite sometimes severe provocation, and he didn't think the curse would be amused if he tried it now. But it took every ounce of willpower he possessed to control the urge to do something drastic, possibly involving amphibians.

"You have issues. I hope you're aware of that." Unaware of the debate going on in the irate genie's head, Yugi plucked up a token and turned it over in his hands. "I still can't believe any of this is real. I'll make my wishes, you'll turn back into a puzzle, and I'll stagger off alone to finish having my nervous breakdown. Peachy keen."

He looked up to find Atem staring at him. "Uh, that was a joke. Not a very funny one, but you could at least _pretend_ to laugh. Just to be polite."

Atem, who felt he was going above and beyond the call of 'polite' by not turning Yugi into a newt, ignored the suggestion. "Your wish, master?"

Yugi sighed. He chewed on his lip as he concentrated for a moment, then straightened. "Okay, fine." One by one, he pushed the tokens toward Atem as he made his wishes. "I wish for an end to world hunger, lasting world peace, and a cure for all diseases."

Itt took several seconds for a gaping Atem to recover his voice. When he did, incredulous anger sharpened his tone. "Which part of 'self-interest' do you not understand?"

"Huh?" Yugi blinked up at him, zero comprehension on his face.

"I explained the rule!" Beside himself with fury, Atem began to pace in agitation. Yugi was the most impossible master it had ever been his misfortune to serve. Or _attempt_ to serve, since Yugi seemed determined to thwart Atem's every effort to grant his wishes. The newt option was looking more appealing with each passing second. "Altruism is not allowed. You must derive a _direct benefit_ from your wishes!"

"Wait. Are you saying you can't grant _any_ of my wishes?"

_Somewhere in the lowest ranks of his barbarian hell_, Atem thought, _a certain white-haired sorcerer is laughing his damned head off_. Atem pinned Yugi with a baleful glare. "Those wishes do not offer you direct benefit. Therefore, according to the rules by which I must abide, they are invalid."

"You mean…" Yugi pondered a second, his eyes widening as realization dawned. "You mean every wish you _can_ grant has to be totally selfish? Oh, man. That sucks!" He looked suddenly, genuinely, saddened. "No wonder you don't like humans."

Watching Yugi slump back onto the sofa - not just his shoulders, but his entire body drooping - Atem hid his astonishment. In all his years, he had never had a master attempt to spend his wishes selflessly. Until now. Unfortunately, the rules meant things did not work that way.

As if sensing his thoughts, Yugi peered up at him. "How many wishes have you granted in your lifetime?"

"Why do you _ask_ me such questions?" Atem stopped pacing to glare at his frustrating master.

Yugi offered a sheepish shrug. "I'm just curious about you. Is there some rule against you talking about yourself?"

"None of which I am aware," Atem admitted reluctantly. How did this man keep confounding him so easily? No one had ever asked him so many personal questions. His masters had always been far more interested in their wishes than in the one who granted them. He hesitated, then slowly said, "I have had many masters, so I have granted many wishes."

"And all of them selfish." Yugi sounded saddened. He shook his head. "Yeah, that definitely sucks. Hey, I just thought of something. Are you human or are genies a separate species? Were you born a genie? How old are you?"

"What do any of those things matter?" Atem stiffened, fairly radiating displeasure. "All you need to know is that I can grant you three wishes."

"Three _selfish_ wishes."

Atem inclined his head in impatient acknowledgment. "As you say. Now… What is your wish, my most _curious_ master?" And he meant that in every sense of the word.

Yugi caught the insult and his expression soured. "I just want to know something about you. After all, you are the man who's going to make all my dreams come true."

"Not all of them. Merely three of the selfish ones."

"Right." Yugi toyed with the undrainable wineglass. "I'm still a bit confused."

"Only a bit?"

Yugi ignored the snide remark. "Take this wine - or teleporting me around to spare my leg - or, the big one, the Crawford Hall inventory. How are those things different from the wishes you grant through the tokens?"

Absently, Atem stroked his palm over the back an the upholstered wing-backed chair opposite the sofa. "Above a certain level of power, the wishes must go through the tokens. If you desire such things as vengeance, great wealth, or power, you must use a token. The other, minor magic, such as serving you a glass of wine, is a manifestation of my will."

"Uh-huh. And what does _that_ mean?"

Atem's fingers dug into the back of the chair while he sought the patience to deal with this latest irrelevancy. "I am a genie. You solved the puzzle, therefore you are my master until I have granted your three wishes. My obligation is to serve you for as long as you hold a token. I must grant you three wishes, if they are within my power to do so. But I may also choose to offer food or drink for your comfort, or choose to cushion your fall if the need arises."

"But, you could choose _not_ to do those things?"

"Yes. However, in order to expedite the process of granting your wishes, I chose to aid you." At Yugi's puzzled look, Atem clarified, "It would difficult for you to make a wish if you were unconscious from striking your head when you fainted."

"Ah." Yugi leaned against the arm of the sofa. "So, if you hadn't chosen to complete my inventory-?"

"You would have had to expend one of your tokens if you wished me to finish the task for you."

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, okay. I think I get it." He tilted his head, a thoughtful look on his face. "You know, I appreciate that you did the inventory for me. I really do. But how on earth am I going to explain completing a project in one summer that should have taken three to five years to complete?"

Far more interested in the candy he had taken from the glass chicken than in Yugi's dilemma, Atem shrugged. How his master chose to explain things was none of Atem's concern. He bit one of the colorful candy blobs in half and studied the results. Yugi's soft chuckle made him look up, one eyebrow cocked in question.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone as involved in their surroundings as you are." Yugi grinned. "And I'm sure I've never seen anyone so fascinated by M&Ms before. Is that a genie thing, or is it just you?"

"It has been more than eighty years since someone last solved the puzzle. And my time in the physical world is limited." Atem popped the candy into his mouth and chewed. The color of the shell did not appear to affect the taste. "Memory is a capricious thing. It is all too easy to forget scents, tastes, textures…"

Suddenly angry with himself for revealing so much, Atem stalked to the sofa, looming over Yugi. "What will you wish for? Wealth beyond imagination? Ultimate power over others?" Leaning so close that his breath stirred Yugi's bangs, Atem hissed, "Love_ - _or, more likely, _lust_?"

Yugi's gulped audibly. He pressed himself into the arm of the sofa, retreating as much as he could. "C-can you read my mind?"

"No." Satisfied that he had the upper hand once more, Atem straightened. "You must speak your wishes aloud if I am to grant them."

"That's… good to know."

"I live to please you, my master."

Yugi's eyes narrowed. "If I wish for you to be less sarcastic, do you have to grant it?"

"No."

"Why the heck not? It would definitely benefit me - or my blood pressure, at least."

Atem's smirking probably wasn't doing much for Yugi's blood pressure either, but that didn't stop Atem from doing it. "Do you wish to expend a token to find out if I'm telling the truth?"

"…No." Yugi sighed. "I guess I'll just have to live with your charming personality, as is."

"Flattery will get you nowhere. Have you decided on your first wish?"

"Well, I…" Yugi's eyes glazed over as he apparently sank into deep thought. "I guess I could wish for full funding for that expedition I've always wanted to mount - to find the lost tomb my family died searching for. Or I could ask for my own house, one with an awesome game room and no stairs to climb. Or-" He broke off and blinked at Atem in obvious consternation. "It's all kind of overwhelming. Did any of your previous masters have so much trouble deciding on their wishes?"

"You're the first."

"Go, me." Yugi groaned and dug the fingers of both hands into his hair. "Look, is there a time limit on this deal? Do my wishes expire at midnight or do they roll over? 'Cause, I think I'm going to need a little more time to figure this thing out."

Incredulous, Atem stared down at Yugi. "You can't decide on even a single wish?"

"If you're really a genie - and I guess you've proven you are - then I have an incredible opportunity here. I don't want to mess up by rushing in without really thinking things through. I don't want to waste my wishes on something stupid, even if they do have to be selfish." Yugi offered him a hopeful looking smile. "Could I have a couple of days to think about it?"

"Days?" The word seemed to echo in Atem's head, dazzling him with the possibilities. "You want a couple of _days_ to think about your wishes?"

_Days_. Atem nearly swayed with the intoxication. He could have _days_ to spend in the physical plane, free to experience all it offered. Days to truly live, to feel and sense the world around him as a _man_, not a disembodied spirit suspended in the memory of a dream. He did not even try to hide the full, genuine smile that lit up his face. His delight conveyed itself to Yugi, who beamed back at him. "By all means, take as long as you like!"

"You mean you finally approve of something I said?"

"More than you can possibly imagine." Atem settled easily onto the wing-backed chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet aroma of fresh-mown grass from the open window. _Wonderful_.

"Oh, no!"

Yugi's squeak made Atem open his eyes to see what had distressed his master.

The tokens had vanished, and Yugi was staring in apparent horror at the empty table where they had been.

-o0o-

"It's all right. Simply say 'I wish,' and a token will appear in your hand," Atem said.

"Whew! That's a relief." Yugi relaxed. When the tokens vanished, he thought he had blown it. He didn't want to lose his wishes before he could make them! He was sure if he put his mind to it, he could think of _some_ way to use his wishes for good, even if they did have to appear selfish. His relaxation lasted for all of two seconds. Then his gaze fell on a nearby clock, and he bolted to his feet. "Is that the time? Dammit, I forgot! Téa and the others will be here any minute. It's our weekly dinner-and-a-movie night."

Yugi waffled anxiously from foot to foot, unable to decide which direction to rush off in first. "I need to shower and change, and -" He turned abruptly, came face-to-face with the genie, and stumbled to a halt. "Oh, shit. How am I going to explain _you_?"

Atem flashed a handsome smile that revealed even white teeth and stunned Yugi into temporary paralysis. The smile widened, gaining a slightly wicked edge. "Alakazam."

Yugi's skin tingled. The faintest whiffs of his favorite shampoo and soap drifted around him, and he suddenly felt as fresh as if he had just stepped out of the shower. He looked down and found himself clad in a charcoal gray designer suit, the shiny toes of black patent boots gleaming beneath his silk trouser cuffs.

"Gah!" Yugi started so violently, he nearly toppled himself back onto the sofa. He clutched at his chest, where his heart was making a spirited attempt to tunnel through his ribs to freedom, then shot his best glare at the genie, who was fighting laughter - and losing. "Oh, yeah. Ha-bloody-ha. Very funny. But I'm a little overdressed for beer and pizza with the guys."

Stifling a very obvious snicker, Atem raised one elegant eyebrow. "What would you prefer, my sartorially-challenged master?"

"Jeans and a t-shirt - the black one in my closet, the one with the picture of a Roman charioteer on it. And my own sneakers, thank you." The shoes had a built-up sole to compensate for the difference in his legs. He felt off-balance in the dress boots with their slight heels and slick leather soles.

The genie gave an easy shrug, making even so casual a gesture appear enticing, and waved a hand. "Alakazam."

Yugi braced himself this time, but didn't feel the change when it occurred. Between one blink and the next, he went from overdressed to casual, his outfit exactly as he had requested. He collapsed back onto the sofa, grabbed up the undrainable wineglass, and made a solid effort at emptying it. After a few seconds, he blinked at the glass as the wine topped itself off again.

"I will _never_ get used to that," Yugi mumbled, then shot an appraising look at Atem, who was back in his tight jeans, chains, and leather wrist cuffs. "You might want to tone down _your_ look a bit, before they-"

The doorbell rang. Too late. Yugi dragged himself up off the sofa and slunk toward the front door. Halfway there, panic reared its ugly head. _Oh, man_. How the heck was he going to explain Atem to Téa? She was always the first to arrive, since Joey had never been on time for anything in his life, including his own birth (he'd been two weeks past his due date, a fact his mother never let any of them forget, especially when she wanted something from Joey), and Tristan would arrive with Joey, since Joey always bummed a ride on Tristan's motorcycle. All of which meant that Yugi had the time it took him to open the door to come up with a plausible story to feed Téa. If she bought it, so would the guys.

But what the heck was he going to say? '_I solved an old puzzle and a drop-dead gorgeous genie popped out'_ wasn't going to cut it. Yugi angled a look back at the drop-dead gorgeous genie in question, who smiled. At least _his_ mood had improved.

"Um, look," Yugi said, fumbling for something that sounded believable. "We'll say you're a colleague of mine, okay? We met, um, when I was doing field work overseas back in college."

"As you wish, master."

Hand inches from the doorknob, Yugi froze. "For goodness sakes, don't call me that in front of my friends! And absolutely _no magic_!"

Yugi risked a peek over his shoulder at the genie. Who was _grinning_. Oh, god. They were all doomed. With a fatalistic sigh, Yugi opened the door.

Téa Gardner, his best friend since kindergarten, stood on the front step. Her happy smile quickly morphed into a confused frown as Yugi launched into a preemptive babble.

"Hey, Téa! Come in, come in! You look great this evening. Not that you usually look bad or anything. Um, I wore that shirt you got me. Do you like it? Of course you do, you bought it for me, you wouldn't have gotten me a shirt you hated, right? Heh-heh." Yugi closed his eyes, swallowed hard, and forced himself to breathe. He was already screwing this up; he could tell by the way her blue eyes were narrowing at him. "Um, hey, I know I should've called you and rescheduled, but something _totally_ unexpected came up at the last minute, and I wasn't thinking about tonight and…"

He trailed off. Téa wasn't listening. Instead, she was staring over his head, into the living room behind him. Yugi had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what had caught her attention.

"Oh, yeah. _Him_." Yugi swallowed again. His mouth suddenly felt as dry as the Sahara. "Uh, Téa, this is Atem. Atem, this is my friend, Téa Gardner." He risked a peek through his bangs at Téa. Oh, god. She had _that_ look in her eyes - the one she got right before she tried to set him up with someone bent on world domination. Determined to nip her matchmaking tendencies in the bud, he blurted, "We're just _friends_!"

"Oh, really?" She stepped around him, her shrewd gaze focused on the genie. "Good friends? Have you known each other long?"

Oh, shit. "No, no - Well, yeah." Yugi suddenly remembered his planned story, and had to backtrack. "I mean, we kind of knew each other in college, but-"

"Oh?" Her laser-sharp gaze pinned Yugi to the spot. "How come you never mentioned him before? Really, Yugi, I thought we were better friends than that! And now I find out you've been holding out on me. Have the two of you kept in touch? Are you going to start seeing-?"

"Gah!" Yugi buried his face in his palm. It was going to be Marik Ishtar all over, although hopefully without the "kill Yugi to obtain ultimate power" part, since the genie seemed to have plenty of mojo on his own. _Peachy_. Yugi pinned Téa with a Look and hissed, "Remember Marik? Do we _really_ want to go there again?"

"Don't be silly, Yugi. You already know Atem, right? So, you know he's not-" She waved a hand in a gesture meant to encompass the entirety of Marik's delusional state. " -Ishtar."

"Thank god for _that_," Yugi murmured. Marik wasn't something he wanted to repeat. He had hoped that the incident would have cured her of all desire to match-make. It had almost cured _him_ of the desire to date. Ever. Only in the last year and a half had he started to come out of his self-imposed isolation. And then the fiasco last summer had set all but one of his colleagues at the university against him, and his dating prospects had shriveled up like a puddle in the midday sun.

During this exchange, Atem stood back and observed the two of them with his usual stoic lack of expression. Now, a tiny smirk graced the corner of his mouth as he stepped up beside Yugi. In a charming voice Yugi suspected few people could resist, Atem said, "I do hope my intrusion isn't going to spoil your plans for the evening, Miss Gardner."

"Don't be silly!" Téa's cheeks took on a becoming rose cast. "The more the merrier. Right, Yugi?"

"Uh, well, I… guess so." It was hard to think clearly with Atem standing so close to him. He could feel the genie's presence as a tingling heat all down the side of his body, even though a few inches of air separated them. "If… that is, if you and the guys don't mind him joining us."

"Of course not! Your friend is our friend. And I'm sure Joey and Tristan will agree. They're meeting us at the theater, by the way. Joey had to work late." She reached out to link arms with Atem, tugging the bemused looking genie toward the sofa. "You must tell me all about how the two of you met. I'm so glad you've chosen now to visit Yugi. He needs cheering up, after the awful things that happened in Sagalassos last year. We've all been worried about him, you know."

Yugi cringed. Since the incident in Sagalassos, the number of friends he could count on had dwindled considerably. Despite the rumors, gossip, and slurs both professional and personal, his real friends - namely, Téa, Tristan, and Joey - had stuck by him. The four of them had all been buddies since high school. They had shared some crazy adventures, including the Ishtar Incident - though Yugi felt that qualified more as a _fiasco_ than an _adventure_. While remorseful about the outcome of her last attempt, Téa insisted that her matchmaking was the ultimate expression of friendship; she just wanted to see Yugi with someone who could make him happy. Yugi didn't have the heart to object too strongly, after that, though he had turned down all subsequent offers to set him up on blind dates.

It occurred to Yugi that if he dared to tell anyone the truth about Atem the Genie, it would be Téa, Tristan, and Joey. But would it be fair to them? Knowing that genies existed had thrown Yugi for a loop. Did he have the right to tilt the world off its axis for his friends? Maybe it would be best if he kept the secret to himself. Atem wasn't going to be here for long. As soon as Yugi made his three wishes, Atem would go back to wherever genies came from, and Yugi's life could go back to normal.

For now, at least, Yugi decided to keep the truth to himself.

-o0o-

Since he had been unable to think of a reasonable excuse to stay home, Yugi soon found himself slumped in a booth at Mario's Pizza Emporium, wondering how he got himself into these things - and how he could get himself _out_ again. The air was redolent with the mouthwatering aromas of tomato sauce, garlic, and pepperoni, but he had a hard time concentrating on the food when he all he could think about was the genie seated beside him.

Warm breath on his ear made Yugi stifle a yelp as said genie whispered, "What happened in Sagalassos last summer?"

Yugi jerked upright and stared at Atem. From the moment Yugi had asked to delay his wishes, he had noticed a definite change in the genie's attitude toward him. Atem seemed almost relaxed now. The sharp stress lines etched around his mouth and eyes had eased, making him appear even more attractive. Although the genie continued to touch everything around him as if soaking in his environment through his fingertips, the desperate urgency was missing. Atem had been stuffing his handsome face with enough pizza to feed a small army. Yugi wished the genie had stayed focused on the food; Sagalassos was not a topic he wanted to discuss in public.

"Oops." Téa looked contrite. "Did I say something I shouldn't have? Sorry, Yugi. I just assumed you'd told him about last summer."

Yugi opened his mouth to assure her it was all right - though it really wasn't - but was distracted by Atem taking another slice of pizza from the pan at the center of the table. A new slice instantly formed to take its place. Yugi twitched. He couldn't believe Téa still hadn't noticed the self-regenerating pizza, and his nerves were stretched taut waiting for her reaction when she did. He could only count his blessings that Joey and Tristan weren't here. There was no way Joey wouldn't have noticed, since a never-ending pizza and beer pitcher were two of the guy's fondest dreams. That, and a giant jelly donut big enough to use as a flotation device.

Distracted by his thoughts, Yugi mumbled at Atem, "I thought you knew everything about me."

"I know the basics." Atem shrugged and took a huge bite of pizza, chewing with every indication of gastronomic bliss. He swallowed, then added, "Some of the details, however, I will need you to fill me in on."

Yugi wondered if this were the first time Atem had ever tasted pizza, then found himself wondering just how much practical experience the genie had in the real world. It hadn't sounded as if his former masters had given him much time to himself on the "physical plane." Maybe he would ask later. Right now, the genie was studying Yugi like he was a puzzling pot shard that refused to fit into its proper place.

"Tell me what happened in Sagalassos last summer," Atem commanded in a tone that made Yugi wonder if the genie remembered who was supposed to be the servant, here.

Swallowing hard, Yugi snatched up his glass and gulped down a mouthful of beer - both as a stalling tactic and for the false courage it gave him. He cast around for an excuse, but came up blank until he caught sight of his watch. "Oh, hey, look at the time! We'd better go or we'll miss the previews, and I know how much you hate that, Téa, so -"

"The movie will not begin until you wish for it to begin, O Evasive One."

The genie's expression - the superior lift of one eyebrow above a mocking smirk - filled Yugi with mixed emotions. It was entirely unfair that the man could look so smug and still leave Yugi wanting to, to… well, just _wanting_. Yugi clenched his hands in his lap and glanced at Téa, hoping for a little back-up.

She was staring at the pizza with a distracted look in her eyes. "You know, I think there's something really weird going on with this pizza."

"Time to go!" Yugi leaped to his feet, not an easy feat in a booth, and reached across to snag her arm and drag her after him. "Mustn't keep Joey and Tristan waiting."

Yugi glanced back over his shoulder. The genie followed at a more dignified pace, a faint, knowing smile lifting both corners of his mouth as his gaze met Yugi's. _Peachy._ Yugi blanched and tightened his grip on Téa's arm as he pulled her toward the exit.

They were _so_ doomed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Leaving Atem to pay the bill, Yugi dragged Téa outside. Once they were on the sidewalk outside the pizzeria, she reversed their positions, grabbing him in a tight hug. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!"

Eyes wide, he tried to pull away so he could stare at her. "Huh?"

"He's gorgeous -- and that _voice_! -- and he's definitely a better match for you than Seto Kaiba." She finally let him win free, only to deal him a friendly-but-accusatory bop on the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me you'd come to your senses and stopped seeing Kaiba? Good choice, by the way. That man's not good enough for you."

Yugi darted a quick glance around, almost expecting his sometimes-casual-date to pop up and demand an apology or retribution -- or both. He ducked his chin. "Um, I'm sorta… stillseeingSeto."

Her eyes narrowed. "Run that by me again, this time at less than hypersonic speeds."

"I sorta _am_ still seeing Seto," he mumbled, and dug the toe of his sneaker into a crack in the sidewalk.

"Yugi!" There was no mistaking the exasperation in her voice. "Please tell me you're joking."

He shook his head and shrugged one shoulder.

"I don't believe you!" She stared at him for a long moment, then her eyes got huge. "Whoa. I just realized… You're two-timing _Seto Kaiba_." She reached over and bopped him on the head. "I know you're still upset about last summer, but that's no reason to develop a death-wish."

"Very funny." He raked his fingers through his drooping bangs, which were succumbing to the humid night air. And then the accusation hit. "I am _not_ two-timing Seto!"

"What else do you call it when you're dating both him and Atem at the same time?" She planted both hands on her hips, her entire posture settling into full lecture mode. Yugi swallowed a groan. "Have you even considered Atem's side of things? You're not being fair to him -- or Kaiba, either, but he doesn't deserve you in the first place, so my heart doesn't exactly bleed for him."

"Honestly, Atem and I _aren't_--" Yugi tried to interrupt, but she wasn't listening.

"Do yourself a favor and make a clean break. Let Kaiba down easy if it makes you feel better." She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't blow it with Atem. He's a keeper."

_Yes_, Yugi thought, _I could keep him in a puzzle_. He scrubbed at his face. "Things with Atem are kind of… complicated."

"They'd be a lot simpler if Kaiba wasn't in the picture."

"Téa!"

"I'm just saying--"

Yugi leaned back against the restaurant window and rolled his head to the side in order to watch Atem through the glass. How could he make her understand, without giving away Atem's secret? "I wish…"

As Yugi watched, the genie's posture stiffened for no apparent reason and he turned his head sharply to look at Yugi. Even as Atem stalked toward him, Yugi felt something warm and heavy appear in his palm. Looking down, he found a token in his hand. Uh-oh. Why--? Oh. He'd said "I wish," hadn't he?

"No, no, _no_!" he hissed, waving the genie off as discreetly as he could. "I didn't mean it!"

To his relief, the token vanished.

Weak in the knees, Yugi slumped against the window. He'd have to be more careful in the future; it would be too easy for him to waste a wish by being careless. Thank goodness for the token system, which gave him a few seconds to reconsider any wish he might voice.

"Earth to Yugi!" Téa waved a hand in front of his eyes. "You okay?"

"Just… thinking."

"About Kaiba?" She frowned at him.

"No, actually."

She brightened. "Were you thinking about Atem?"

He had been, but he wasn't admitting that to _her_. Besides, it wasn't anything like what she was obviously thinking. When he didn't say anything, she folded her arms and scowled at him. "Why are you being so stubborn about this? You know you'd be better off with someone other than Kaiba. He's a pompous, arrogant ass."

"Don't hold back, tell me what you really think of Seto." Yugi didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. At least she was distracted from speculating about the magic pizza.

She ignored his muttering. "Is Kaiba the only thing holding you back? Because I saw the way you were looking at Atem tonight, and it's obvious you're attracted to him. Don't even try to tell me you're not."

Well, Yugi wasn't blind -- or dead -- and Atem _was_ a handsome man. So Yugi looked. No need to make a federal case out of it. "Okay, he's good-looking. I admit it. But that doesn't mean anything."

"'Good-looking'? Yugi, if I thought I stood even half a chance, I'd--" She cut herself off with a shake of her head. She reached out and fussed with Yugi's hair in a vain attempt to tame it. "So, what's the real problem, if it's not Seto? Why did the two of you break up in college?"

Oh, man… "We weren't even dating in college!"

"Why the heck _not_?"

"Look, he--" Yugi fumbled for an excuse. "I don't even know if he likes guys!"

Téa smirked. "If _that's_ the only problem, you've got nothing to worry about. I saw the way he looked at you, too. Trust me, he's interested."

"_Téa_!" Oh, perfect. Now he was whining. Could this night get any better? Yugi decided he needed a few minutes to pull himself back together. "I left my cane in the car. I'm going to go--"

"If you won't ask him, I will."

"What? No!"

"Oh, here he comes now. Hey, Atem--"

And the moment of Yugi's doom had arrived. The genie strode out of the restaurant and straight into Téa's inquisitive clutches. Unable to watch, Yugi buried his face in his hands. Unfortunately, this didn't keep him from hearing her demand, "Do you like men?"

"_What_?"

Yugi peeked through his fingers in time to see Atem's eyebrows shoot up as he sent a confused look toward Yugi.

_Oh, god_. Yugi wondered if he could use one of his tokens to make the sidewalk open up and swallow him before he spontaneously combusted from the humiliation. Téa had always been like this, even when they were kids -- willing to do anything to protect her friends if she thought they needed it. Now, she had Atem cornered and she wouldn't let up until she was certain he wasn't going to hurt Yugi. The worst part was that Yugi knew that if Atem were a human man and not a genie, her concerns would be valid. Yugi could fall for Atem very easily. Maybe it was for the best that Atem was a genie. It spared Yugi even the possibility of rejection.

Straightening, Yugi stepped between the two of them. "I'm going back to the car," he muttered, and headed off at a fast clip without waiting for a response from either of them.

Atem and Téa caught up with him before he had gone more than ten feet. Yugi sighed at the unfairness of being surrounded by tall people with long legs. They continued their interrupted conversation over Yugi's head.

"Quit stalling." Téa reached over and poked at Atem. "Do you like Yugi or not?"

Atem's aloof mask was firmly in place. "You did not ask me if I liked _Yugi_," he pointed out. "Your question was far more general."

"Argh! Just answer the question!"

"Which one?"

"Do you like Yugi?!"

"What business is it of yours?" Atem countered.

Téa planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Yugi is my best friend and I don't want to see him hurt. If you're just planning to lead him on--"

"I assure you, my presence here is not intended to harm Yugi in any way. My services will be of a direct benefit to him."

Téa stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him for a full ten seconds before breaking out into a delighted laugh. "Wow. There's nothing wrong with your self-esteem, is there?" They had reached the car, and she slid past them to take her place in the back seat. "Okay, stud. Here's hoping you live up to your hype." She winked at Yugi in the rearview mirror as he eased behind the wheel.

Yugi fought the urge to pound his forehead on the steering wheel and wondered if telling

Téa the truth could possibly have been worse than this. Now she thought Atem was some kind of, of… Words failed him, though the phrase "sex machine" popped into his head and refused to leave. He slid a look at Atem, who was staring out the window, entranced by the neon signs on the shops lining the street and blissfully unaware of the thoughts ricocheting off the inside of Yugi's skull.

Groaning, Yugi headed the car toward the mall. They had survived dinner, but he had the sinking feeling the real test would be getting through the movie with Atem's secret -- and Yugi's sanity -- intact.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Yugi's other friends were waiting for them at the theater, but Atem barely noticed. He was in sensory paradise. The movie theater offered a cacophony of sounds - conversations, the electronic bleeps and roars of the video games along one wall, the rapid-fire rattle of popping corn - and a smorgasbord of textures, sights, and scents. He enjoyed them all, even the eye-searing pattern on the carpet underfoot, which threatened to make his eyes cross if his gaze lingered too long. But the most intriguing sensation was the enticing, mouthwatering aroma that hung in air. Hot and buttery, the tantalizing scent had him ordering the largest size of popcorn the concession stand had to offer.

"Those long legs of yours must be hollow," Téa said, watching Atem purchase a jumbo tub of buttered popcorn, a huge soda, and six boxes of various candies. "I think even Joey is impressed."

"You bet I am. For such a skinny guy, it looks like he can really pack it away," Joey agreed. He only had _four_ boxes of candy in his own stack. Standing next to him and balancing a bucket of popcorn, Tristan elbowed him in the ribs. "Hey! I'm just sayin'."

Atem shrugged and added a box of chocolate-covered almonds to his haul. "I enjoy sampling new tastes."

"And you've never tasted Sugar Babies?" Joey exaggerated grimace reflected his horror. "You poor, deprived soul. Have you been stuck in low-carb hell for the last decade?"

"Something like that." Leaning over, Atem inhaled the delicious smell wafting up from his popcorn. He had never dreamed of food like this when he was mortal and, in all the years since, he hadn't spent enough time in the physical world to sample such things. He wanted to savor every moment of this opportunity. It could be another century or more before he had the chance to experience the world as one of the truly living. In the time given to him, he was going to taste and touch and smell everything he could.

In the darkened theater, he sank comfortably into the plush seat beside Yugi. His master's friends took seats on Yugi's other side, Joey and Tristan pretending to fight over who would take the seat next to Téa. While she settled them with cuffs to their ears, Yugi leaned closer to Atem and whispered, "Have you ever been to a movie theater before?"

The clean scent of Yugi's hair distracted Atem for a moment. "Hm?"

"Movies," Yugi repeated. "Have you been to one before?"

"No."

Atem knew about motion pictures, in the same distant way he knew about most things in the modern world. The dream state that held him when he was not serving his masters fed him images and implanted the understanding of them in his mind, but such knowledge was ephemeral and without depth. There was a world of difference between knowing what an airplane was and flying in one.

"Well, this one's supposed to be a classic," Yugi said, keeping his voice down so as not to disturb the other movie patrons. "It's from the thirties, so it's in black and white, and -"

Only partially listening to Yugi's explanation of the film, Atem sampled his popcorn, savoring the crunch. Mm. Buttery. Perhaps a bit too much salt…

On the other side of Yugi, Joey and Tristan were conducting a whispered argument - for a certain value of the word "whisper", anyway - the subject of which seemed to be whether or not Atem and Yugi were going to watch the movie or, in Joey's words, "make out like a pair of rabid weasels." Without turning his head, Atem cut his eyes at Yugi. Even in the low lighting, it was possible to see that Yugi's face was blushing so hotly he was almost glowing. Yugi sank a few inches into his seat, one hand coming up to cover his eyes. Clearly, he had heard the argument, too.

The lights went down completely, Tea smacked the arguing duo into submission, and the movie screen lit up with the first few frames of the movie. Atem indulged in a lazy smirk and focused his concentration on the movie.

As Yugi had said, the film was in black and white. On the screen, a kneeling, naked woman held up a pair of incense burners as if offering them to the audience. Tasteful lighting kept the image to a "general audience" rating. Orchestral music swelled and the title appeared on the screen: _Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile_. The title disappeared and the camera focused on a luxurious room where a dark-haired woman reclined on a leopard-skin couch. Servants, dressed in floating white draperies, flitted around the woman, garbing her in jewels and sumptuous fabrics. A girl wearing nothing but a short skirt and strategically placed bead necklaces bent over the woman and offered her a goblet of wine.

Atem sat frozen in his seat. The scene shifted, moving outdoors. The camera panned, locating a procession and following it as it wound its way across a stretch of sand toward a building that looked a bit like a temple. Women in strange, cat-like costumes cavorted beside men leading camels decked out in bells and tassels. Men with shaved heads twirled flaming batons and breathed fire at the edges of the procession. Only the familiar pyramids in the background bore any resemblance to the land of Atem's birth.

This movie was supposed to take place in _Egypt_? Atem frowned. What _was_ this? His memories might have faded over the millennia, but he was sure his homeland had never been like this.

_It had been more like_…

The improbable procession gave way to sands churned up in the aftermath of battle. The broken bodies of men and chariot horses lay scattered around a tall central figure whose bloodied _khopesh_ flashed in the burning sunlight. Beside the taller figure, a man who resembled Atem, though his hair was black and hung straight to his shoulders, fought just as fiercely despite the bleeding wounds marring his arms, chest, and legs. Attackers closed around the two men. A spear sliced through the air and buried itself in the taller figure's torso. The sword fell from his hand and he crumpled to the ground. The Atem on the screen screamed in denial, but one of the enemy soldiers bashed him in the back of the head with a mace and he collapsed onto the body of his fallen protector.

Beside him, Yugi murmured, "I don't remember that scene being in this movie…"

The scene shifted again, the desert giving way to a walled citadel. Heart shuddering in his chest, Atem watched the soldiers gather the semi-conscious prince on the screen and drag him into a dark room lit only by the torch one of the soldiers carried. Clad only in the short kilt he had worn into battle, Atem shivered. Across the room, a light flared, temporarily blinding him. When his vision cleared, he blinked at the person the light had revealed.

Dressed in elaborate and colorful woolen robes, the Hittite woman approached Atem where he hung in the cruel grip of his guards. She dug a be-ringed hand into his hair and forced his neck back at a painful angle. "Such a handsome one you have brought to me," she said, directing her words at the soldiers. "You have done well."

He tried to jerk his head away, but her fingers dug into his scalp. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Do you know who I am?"

"You are Atememheb, he who is Son of the Pharaoh's Body, Falcon in the Nest, heir to the throne of Egypt."

"Then, when my father slaughters you all for what you have dared, you will know why you die."

She laughed. "You think Pharaoh will avenge your death, little prince?"

So, they _were_ going to kill him. His stomach clenched, but nothing of his sudden fear showed on his face. The woman studied his face for a moment longer, then released him. She moved away, leaving him in the hands of her guards.

"Swear your loyalty to me, turn your face against your father. Grant me the power to conquer the Two Lands, and I will spare your life."

"Never!" Atem spat his defiance at the woman. "If that is why you brought me here, you are doomed to disappointment. I will not betray my king."

"So brave._ So foolish_." At her signal, the guards shoved Atem to his knees. "Here is your choice, brave fool. Let us see what you make of it."

The sound of footsteps crossing the stone floor made Atem turn his head. The sight that met his eyes made his heart constrict in his chest. "Mahaad - You live!"

"But for how much longer?" The cold smirk on the woman's lips sent a chill through Atem's heart. Mahaad stood between two hulking guards, his clothing in tatters, his skin marked by the evidence of battle. "Tell me, Prince of Egypt, would you give your life for this man? I have chosen him as an offering to the storm god. If you take his place on the sacrificial altar, I will spare his life."

Atem stared at Mahaad. He had known Mahaad all his life. The two of them had grown to manhood together - raised together in the Great House, educated together, trained together. They were friends, closer than brothers. When Mahaad fell in the desert, Atem believed Mahaad had given his life to protect him.

Mahaad's eyes met his. "My prince…"

"Spare him," Atem said. _Forgive me, Father. I cannot let the brother of my heart die in my place_. "Kill me - let him go."

"Oh, such a noble heart beats within your breast. I wonder if your friend is as noble?" She smiled at Mahaad. "Tell me… Who should I kill, Egyptian? You - or your prince?"

"_Him_." Mahaad's voice was harsh in the close room. It drowned out even the pounding of Atem's blood in his ears. "Take him, not me!"

Heart breaking, Atem stared at the man he had trusted above all others. "_Mahaad_…"

A gesture from the woman had the guards turning and escorting Mahaad from the chamber. Her laughter rang in Atem's ears, though it barely registered. The shock of his friend's betrayal held him paralyzed. He only noticed the new presence in the room when the newcomer spoke.

"You have had your fun, Taduheba." The new arrival was a man, dressed in Hittite clothing, his long white hair flowing loosely around his shoulders. "Now it is _my_ turn."

A single word fell from Atem's lips. "…_Bakura_."

-o0o-

Fingers bit into Atem's arm, shaking him, startling him back to the present - to the movie theater, thousands of years from the scene unfolding on the screen. Mind struggling to adjust to the sudden jump in time, Atem blinked at Yugi, who scowled at him.

"You're doing that, aren't you?" Yugi hissed, leaning close. "Stop messing with the movie. Put it back the way it's supposed to be!"

From Yugi's other side, a voice that sounded a lot like Joey's said, "Hey, doesn't the actor playin' that prince guy look kinda like Atem?"

A chorus of irritated _shushes_ erupted all around them.

Atem ignored them all. He couldn't bear to witness any more of his past, but he couldn't trust his subconscious not to put more of it up on the movie screen if he stayed in the theater. Shoving himself to his feet, he knocked over his popcorn. It crunched beneath his shoes as he stumbled to the aisle. He didn't stop until he reached the lobby and found a water fountain attached to one wall. He bent over the fountain and splashed cool water onto his face, all the while willing his rapid heartbeat and ragged breathing to return to normal. He wasn't aware Yugi had followed him until his master made his presence known by thumping Atem on the arm.

"Are you happy now?" Yugi growled. "I distinctly remember asking you not use your magic in public. But, no, you've got to be weird - first with the perpetual pizza, and then rewriting the movie just to amuse yourself!"

Atem turned his head toward Yugi - and all the anger drained from Yugi's face as if someone had pulled a stopper. His eyes widened. "That guy in the movie didn't just look like you… The captured prince… That _was_ you, wasn't it?"

Straightening, Atem shoved a hand through his hair. He needed a drink - or twelve. Not caring that he was, once again, violating his master's "no public magic" rule, he summoned a clay beer jar, broke the mud seal, and downed the familiar brew in a single gulp. He tossed the empty container over his shoulder, where it promptly vanished before hitting the floor, and swiped a trembling hand over his mouth.

"Forgive me." Atem avoided his master's gaze, focusing his own on a point about a foot over Yugi's head - and several thousand years in the past. "Altering the film was… unintentional. The setting, however inaccurate, reminded me of home, and I-" He gestured helplessly. "The memories overwhelmed me."

For a long moment, Yugi was silent. Then he huffed out a sigh, deflating a bit as the last of his exasperation drained out of him with the exhalation. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

In a spontaneous gesture, Yugi reached up and pressed his hand against Atem's cheek. It was a gesture meant to comfort, but an electric jolt passed between them at the contact. Atem's gaze fixed on Yugi, all thoughts of the past wiped from his mind.

-o0o-

Atem's distraction vanished and his gaze turned sharp and focused - on Yugi, who felt his mouth go dry beneath that hawk-like stare. He yanked his hand away from Atem's face and licked his own lips.

"What…" Yugi squeaked. He cleared his throat before trying again. "What did she do to you? That woman… she threatened to kill you." Yugi paused as his thoughts caught up with his mouth. He grimaced. "Well, obviously she didn't kill you. I mean, you're here, aren't you? But…_you're here_. So, she must've done _something_ to you. Right?"

"There you guys are!" Téa called, hurrying over to them. "Why did you run out like that? I mean, I know there was something freaky going on with the movie - we think they got a reel from another movie mixed in with this one - but that's no reason to take off."

"Atem isn't feeling well." Yugi interrupted, not wanting to linger too long on the subject of Atem's flashback-on-film. "I think the long, er, journey is catching up with him. Will you be okay if I take him home now?"

Téa's gaze darted between them. She studied Atem's haggard expression for a second before nodding. "Sure. I'll get a cab home."

"Thanks, Téa. Tell Joey and Tristan I'm sorry for running out on you guys, but-"

"Hey, it's not like Atem got sick on purpose." Téa smiled. "We'll be fine. You get this guy home and take care of him." She gave Atem's arm a friendly pat. "Get some rest and feel better soon, okay?"

"Yes." Atem's voice was far from its usual velvety self. It sounded hoarse and gruff, choked with some unnameable emotion. He cleared his throat. "I will. Thank you."

Not knowing what else to do, Yugi waved good-bye to Téa, took Atem's hand, and led him from the theater.

-o0o-

The drive back to Yugi's place passed in a tense, charged silence. Yugi was on edge, almost painfully aware of the strange, magnetic attraction pulling him toward the genie. He wondered if he seemed as exotic to Atem as the genie did to him. Maybe that alluring difference explained Atem's appeal. Yugi hand never felt such a powerful pull toward another person, and the unexpected attraction was throwing him off-balance. He was already dating someone, for crying out loud! True, that relationship hadn't progressed much beyond casual dating, but Yugi felt uneasy about reacting so intensely to someone who wasn't Seto.

Several times, he started to say something just to break the taut silence. But he could see Atem's rigid posture, back ramrod straight in the seat and hands clenched on his thighs. Atem stared out the window, his reflection revealing an expression set in a stiff, emotionless mask. Somehow, Yugi didn't think Atem was in the mood for small talk.

He turned the car into his driveway and shut off the lights and engine. For a time, he simply sat there, listening to the tick of the cooling engine and the cicadas chirring in the bushes. Through the open windows of the car, a humid breeze brought with it the hint of honeysuckle and fresh-cut grass. Here, on the outskirts of town, the sky held a sprinkling of stars despite the light-pollution on the horizon. Neither occupant of the little car made a move to get out.

Finally, Yugi slid his hands from the steering wheel and eased around in his seat until he faced the genie. "So," he said, his voice as gentle and encouraging as he could make it. "What happened next?"

For a moment, it seemed the genie wouldn't answer. He looked as tense as a tightly wound spring, and Yugi didn't think it would take much to make the genie go "_sproing_." Obviously, the flashback had upset Atem, but Yugi sensed more than memory alone troubled the genie. The new awareness between them hadn't lessened on the ride home. If anything, it seemed to be growing. Yugi squirmed in his seat.

In a voice roughened by emotion, Atem said, "The one man I thought would never betray me left me to die in his stead. But, rather than kill me, my captor chose to curse me. What more do you need to know?"

The pain in Atem's voice made Yugi's chest constrict in sympathy. His hands twitched with the urge to reach out to Atem, to offer comfort. "I'm sorry."

"Your sympathy is misplaced." Atem moved, shifting to face Yugi. His expression was cold. "It happened thousands of years ago. I should be well over it by now."

"Obviously, you aren't." Yugi wrapped his arms around himself, giving in to the urge to hug _someone_, even if it wasn't Atem. Despite the summer night, a chill raced through him. It suddenly occurred to him that the smallest movement would bring their bodies into contact. The heat of the genie's body danced across Yugi's skin, prickling the fine hairs on his bare arms. He suppressed a shiver and, when he raised his eyes to look at Atem, he found the other man staring at his parted lips.

"It is… strange." Atem's voice was husky and hushed. He swayed minutely closer, seemingly unaware of the motion. "Outside of dreams, I have not thought of Mahaad in centuries."

Yugi swallowed, finding it hard to breathe. "Did you… love him?"

Atem's bitter laughter shattered the moment. He sat back, eyes gone cold and hard. "Love? The greatest deceit of all, a grand illusion to tempt the unwary. Self-interest is the only reality. It will always conquer the lie that is _love_."

"You can't really believe that-"

"I do."

"Well, I don't!"

"Then I congratulate you, master. Your powers of self-delusion are greater than mine. Perhaps once you have experienced, first-hand, the conflict between self-interest and the illusion of love, you will understand."

Yugi, his eyes wide and stricken, withdrew to his side of the car. "I've been in love. Maybe it wasn't a soaring, all-consuming passion, but it was real." And it had hurt like hell when it ended. Surely an illusion wouldn't have caused so much pain. "It was real…"

Atem shrugged. "I didn't say you have never loved, merely that your 'love' has not been tested against self-interest."

"Maybe." Yugi curled into himself, just a little. In a small voice, speaking more to himself than to his companion, he said, "But I wouldn't have sacrificed you to save myself."

The genie gave an inelegant snort. "Idealism. And naiveté. With all due respect, Master Mutou, you are young - and until you have actually faced such a choice, you cannot know what you would do."

Yugi opened his mouth to protest, but Atem cut him off. "The instinct for self-preservation is a strong one. I did not want to die that day, and I cannot fault Mahaad for choosing to save himself. Can you really condemn him for wanting to live?"

At the expense of a friend's life? You bet Yugi could condemn such a choice! "Then why didn't _you_ choose to save your own life over his?"

"I was a fool."

"No!" Yugi brushed tentative fingers over the back of Atem's hand where it rested on the seat between them. "I think you were brave and noble. You made the only choice you could make."

"As did Mahaad."

Since he hadn't been shoved away, Yugi stroked Atem's hand again. It trembled beneath his feather-light touch. "If you have to believe that in order to forgive him, then I understand… and I admire that generosity. Despite your friend's betrayal, you've forgiven him and made his actions seem logical and acceptable to you. Most men couldn't do that."

"Most men do not have millennia in which to work it out." Atem glanced at Yugi from beneath tumbled bangs. "I do not deserve your admiration."

"Okay, who are you and what did you do with my surly genie?" Yugi made his tone light, hoping to tease Atem from his melancholy mood. He poked a finger in the genie's ribs. "And don't try to make me believe it took thousands of years for you to forgive him, either, because I won't."

For several seconds, Atem just stared at Yugi, an unreadable expression darkening his eyes. Finally, Atem blinked. "Your leg pains you."

With a sigh, Yugi allowed the subject change, only then becoming aware that he had been absently massaging the muscles of his thigh with his other hand. "A little. I'll need to soak it in a hot bath and get some sleep."

Yugi wondered if he _could_ sleep. He had a feeling he'd spend the night with his mind churning over thoughts of wishes and betrayals and sometimes-surly genies. Shaking his head, Yugi hefted his cane from its place on the floorboards and reached for the door handle.

A soft "alakazam" - and Yugi's fingers closed on thin air. Reeling, he dropped his cane with a clatter and fetched up against the faded wallpaper of the hall outside his bedroom. Heart racing, he panted, "I think… I still need… a little more warning… before beam out, Mr. Scott."

"Speak _English_, master, I implore you." For once, Atem sounded more amused than annoyed.

Something nudged Yugi's hand. Looking down, he found his cane hovering in the air beside him, waiting for him to grasp it. Instinctively, he clutched at the handle. When he looked back up, he found Atem smiling at him.

"Thanks," Yugi breathed, helpless before that soft, dazzling smile. It melted his every resistant urge into a puddle of submission. Desperate to distract himself, he blurted out the first thing that came to his floundering mind. "Did you put the car in the garage?"

"Alakazam," Atem said, by way of reply. His smile widened, turning languid and seductive without even trying. He bowed low, as graceful as always, though this time it held no resentment or mockery. "Your car is in its garage, my master, and your abode is secured for the night."

Before Yugi could formulate a response, he heard water running in the bathroom. The fragrance of sandalwood and myrrh floated down the hallway. It appeared that Atem was preparing him that hot bath. A mischievous grin stole across Yugi's face. "You know, I think I could get used to having you around."

"I think I could get used to being around," came the quiet reply.

Atem was so close now that Yugi could feel the heat of his body, even through their clothes. Startled, Yugi took a hasty side-step, angling toward the bathroom and the beckoning scent of bath oil. Why did the bath suddenly seem miles away, rather than just across the hall?

"Um. Well. I… I think I'll have that bath and head off to bed, now. So, I guess you'll be going back to the puzzle for the night-" Yugi broke off at the strange look on Atem's face. "What?"

"What _are_ you babbling about _now_?" Atem folded his arms over his chest and scowled at Yugi.

"Uh…" Yugi ducked his head. He had the feeling all those years of watching_ I Dream of Jeannie_ on TV Land had led him astray. "Don't you sleep inside the puzzle?"

"Do I _look_ as if I would fit inside the puzzle?" Atem spread his arms wide, then folded them again, the scowl deepening. "What's going through that head of yours? Do you imagine that there's a tiny bedroom inside the puzzle, with a miniature bed for me?"

"Um… No?"

"You do!" Atem shook his head. "The puzzle is merely a key to summon me from my dream-state. When I'm not in the service of a master, I reside in… I suppose it's another, non-physical dimension, created by the curse. It's a dark realm, filled with nothing but shadows of the real world and my own memories. Thankfully, I will not return there until I've granted your wishes."

"Oh." Yugi could hear the revulsion in the genie's voice when he spoke of this "shadow realm." He got the impression it was worse than Atem was saying. "Okay. Well… In that case, the sofa downstairs folds out into a bed. You can sleep there."

"No."

"Huh?"

Atem frowned. "I explained the rule to you before. I must remain within reach of the sound of your voice at all times."

"But- Look, it's not like I'm going to make a wish in my sleep, or wake up with a sudden wish emergency. And, if I did, I could just come downstairs-"

"I do not make the rules." Atem gazed at Yugi with a stoic lack of expression. "I only do as I must - obey them."

Yugi blinked at him. _Peachy_. For the first time, he regretted turning the guestroom into a study. He glanced around the hallway. "Well, you can't sleep out here in the hall, and I don't know what else-"

"It is simple, master." Atem arched a regal eyebrow. "I will, of course, be spending the night in your room. With you."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Atem had learned long ago that it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission, especially when permission would probably be denied. So, rather than ask for Yugi's consent, after Yugi had bathed and climbed into bed, Atem simply eased his master into a deep, restful sleep. If he hadn't, he felt certain that Yugi would have lain awake all night. His first clue had been the way Yugi lay as stiff as a statue, his hands clenched in the bedcovers. Yugi's gaze darted from ceiling to Atem, who had made clear his intentions to spend the night in the armchair at the foot of Yugi's bed. Eventually, Atem had taken pity on him and sent Yugi off to dreamland with a thought.

Now, several hours later, Atem stood beside the bed and watched Yugi sleep. He knew this would freak out Yugi if he had been awake to witness it, but he couldn't help himself. Yugi was unlike any of his previous masters and, completely against his will, Atem found himself fascinated.

There was nothing spectacular about Yugi's looks. Oh, he was attractive, with those big eyes that revealed every emotion and a smile that could light up the room, but it wasn't Yugi's looks that compelled Atem's interest. It was the _soul_ lurking behind those almost-purple eyes that held his attention. Now, with Yugi sleeping, Atem took the time to really look at him.

Yugi's hair was even messier than usual, bleached bangs covering most of his face. He had kicked off the covers, exposing his lower body. Loose cotton boxers left both legs bare. The right leg was normal, from slender ankle to sturdy thigh. The left leg was thinner, the muscles not as developed. From the pale skin on both legs, it seemed obvious that Yugi never wore shorts in the sun. Was he embarrassed by his weaker leg?

_Unfortunate_, Atem thought, letting his gaze roam where his hands could not. Yugi had nothing to be ashamed of. Atem had met many people in his years as a genie, but never anyone as intriguing as Yugi. For the first time in his existence, Atem had begun to regard his summoner not merely as a master whom he must serve, but as a person he would like to know better. A person, he reluctantly admitted to himself, who stirred desires long-dormant and, perhaps, best left unexpressed.

Atem turned away and stalked across the room to the open window. The air was warm and humid, a far cry from the dry climate of his homeland. He leaned on the sill, staring with unseeing eyes out into the darkness. From the flower bed below, the faint scent of night-blooming jasmine wafted up to him. He inhaled deeply, trying to distract his mind from the dark thoughts lurking at its edges.

Why was Yugi so different from his other masters? Over the millennia, he had served many masters, none of whom stuck in his mind as more than faceless shadows. Some had been worse than others - more greedy, perhaps, or more cruel. A few had turned that cruelty upon him, taking delight in wishing for services he had no desire to give. Some had demanded he come to their beds. Those were, perhaps, the worst of all. Thankfully, even those masters had not held him in the physical world for long. They summoned, they wished - and he returned to the realm of shadows and dreams. Sometimes, he was grateful when his memories faded, even as he mourned the loss of true sensation once more.

Before Yugi, the longest Atem could recall staying in the physical world was half a day - perhaps a bit less. No previous master had ever hesitated over his or her wishes; usually, the entire process took only an hour or two. Why was Yugi so different? Baffling, frustrating, endlessly fascinating Yugi. Atem shook his head. This master would not fade into another faceless silhouette. Even in the prison of dreams, Atem knew he would remember Yugi.

He glanced back at the sleeping figure on the bed. Yugi had shifted to curl on his side, one hand fisted in the light sheet still covering the upper half of his torso. In the moonlight, he looked young, almost innocent - and far too appealing.

Hands flexing at his sides, Atem strode to the bedroom door. He couldn't stay here a moment longer, or he might do something he would regret. He cast another look at Yugi, sighed, and went back to straighten the sheet so that it covered his bare legs. From the information the magic had dumped into his brain the moment Yugi completed the puzzle, Atem knew that even the sluggish breeze coming through the window could cause Yugi's leg to ache. The easing of the slight lines of tension around Yugi's mouth told Atem he had done the right thing. Turning, he made again for the door.

Silence had settled over the house. Atem tested the limits of his freedom, moving cautiously down the hall toward the stairs. If he strayed too far, the curse would punish him. The air would turn to syrup in his lungs, impossible to breathe, and the pain would force him back to his master's side.

But the night was peaceful and the stillness granted him the freedom to explore. He reached the bottom of the stairs without incident and paused to reflect on how such a small matter as the ability to walk where he wanted had taken on such a large meaning in his life. Once, he had done as he pleased, with few limits imposed upon his will. The Pharaoh's chosen heir, he had been the only child of the Pharaoh and the Great Royal Wife. He had grown up in the royal nursery with his half-brothers and half-sisters, all children of Pharaoh and his lesser wives and concubines. As a child, Atem had loved all of his siblings, making no distinctions between their ranks. It was not until he reached adulthood that he came to understand not all of them had such generous hearts.

_Bakura_…

Atem sank down onto the bottom step of the staircase and rested his head in his hands. Son of the Pharaoh and a Hittite princess, Bakura was Atem's half-brother. Until that fateful day when Atem had realized Bakura was behind his capture, Atem had never understood the depth of the resentment Bakura felt toward him. In Hatti, Bakura was a prince. In Egypt, he was merely a vassal. Atem would become the Living Horus; Bakura would be expected to serve him.

Bakura had other plans.

-o0o-

"…_Bakura_." Atem stared at the white-haired man standing before him in the robes of a Hittite prince. "Brother-"

"Silence!" Bakura stalked toward him, a sneer on his lips. "I've no use for your words, Atem." The sneer turned into something twisted and cruel, frightening in its intensity. "Only your body."

"_What_? What do you mean?" Was his brother going to murder him and send his body back to their father as a cruel gift to torment him? "What are you going to do?"

From inside his heavy robes, Bakura lifted out a golden amulet - a large ring with a triangular shape at its center and five dangling pendants. He held it up by the chain so that Atem could see it clearly. "A gift from my late, lamented mother. You remember her, do you not?" His voice dropped to a growl. "The woman our father fed to the jackals?"

"She conspired against him!" Atem reminded him. "To do so is treason! He spared you-"

"Yes. Because his favorite little pet pleaded for my life. _Fool_." Bakura flung the word at him like an accusation. "Did you think I would thank you? Well, here is your reward!"

He thrust the amulet into Atem's face. "This amulet possesses a powerful magic." Bakura fingered one of the dangling pendants. "It can remove a _ka_ from its body and put a new one in its place. Of course, without a body, the deposed _ka_ cannot enter the afterlife or be judged in the Hall of the Two Truths. It remains an unjustified spirit, haunting the desert wastes until it perishes."

Icy fingers of terror clutched at Atem's guts, turning his insides to water. To be denied eternal life in the Field of Reeds was a fate worse than simple death. He stared at the amulet with wide, frightened eyes.

Bakura let the amulet fall back against his chest as Taduheba came to him and offered him a cedarwood box. From the box, he took out another golden object. This one resembled a small pyramid. A loop on the flat end held a cord from which to hang it. "Another of my mother's gifts. There are seven in all, each with its own power. This one will allow me to bind my own magic to your body."

Bind his magic? "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Why would I not? My magic is great. I would not like to be without it… once I have removed your _ka_ from your body and taken it as my own."

"No!"

"Oh, yes. I shall return to Egypt, the sole survivor of a traitorous Hittite ambush. Pharaoh will welcome me, his _beloved_ _son and heir_, with open arms… and when his back is turned, I will drive my dagger into it, and take the throne of Egypt as I was always meant to. Your spirit will perish in the desert, and I - _I_ will be Lord of the Two Lands."

The sheer horror of what Bakura meant to do overwhelmed Atem. Bad enough to lose his body and all hope of the afterlife. But for his body to be used as a weapon, the instrument of Pharaoh's destruction… Atem twisted in the grip of the guards, desperate to free himself so he could, somehow, stop Bakura.

"No!" he cried, even as Bakura placed the pyramid's cord around his neck. The metal was cold against his bare skin, so cold it burned. Tendrils of something dark and repulsive coiled like smoke around the amulet. "I will not let you!"

"You have no choice, _brother_."

Bakura began to chant, and both the pyramid and the ring amulet flared with a light brighter than the mid-day sun. Atem screamed as agony ripped through his body. He felt as if great claws were tearing him apart, while, at the same time, something cold and dark poured into his heart like the rushing waters of the First Cataract in Flood. Dimly, he heard another's shout - and a woman's scream.

And then there was only darkness.

-o0o-

Atem shook himself as he emerged from his reverie. Unlike the sensations of everyday life, his last moments as a human man were etched indelibly in memory. He shoved his trembling fingers through his hair, grimacing at his weakness, and blew out a harsh breath. In all the years since that day, he had never worked out exactly what had gone wrong with Bakura's spell.

Instead of binding Bakura's magic to Atem's body and expelling Atem's _ka_, the spell had bound the magic _and Atem_ to the pyramid amulet. He flexed his hands, giving them a critical stare. They looked the same as when he was alive, so he didn't think Bakura had gotten even that much of what he wanted. Though changed by the magic, Atem's body had gone with him, transformed into a creature of magic, a creature later cultures would name _genie_.

Sometimes, he still wondered what had become of his brother. He hoped that, however Bakura had finally met his end, it had been painful.

With a faint growl for the direction of his thoughts, Atem pushed himself to his feet and resumed his exploration of Yugi's house. He soon found that he could not move past a certain point. The kitchen, and the garage beyond, was out off-limits, but the rest of the house was not. Atem drifted through the rooms permitted to him by the curse, studying random objects and adding to his store of information about this modern time - and Yugi.

Yugi liked games and puzzles, and surrounded himself with books and a veritable jungle of houseplants. Atem ran his fingers along the spines of the books on one packed shelf, idly reading the titles. Yugi's tastes ran to adventure and ancient history - often in the same book. He had a collection of classic science-fiction novels, and rows of scholarly works, some of which looked as if they had belonged to his parents or his grandfather. There were few objects that seemed chosen strictly for decorative purposes, beyond those that must have come with the house. Comfort, practicality, and sentiment were the qualities Yugi valued. Framed photos of his family and friends. Small collections of polished stones, worn clay figurines, and pottery shards - all mementos of past digs. A paperback book of logic puzzles lay open on the table beside the most comfortable chair in the living room, and a chess board with a game in progress rested in the center of the little-used dining table.

The house, Atem noted, held no signs of a "significant other," past or present. For some reason he preferred not to examine too closely, the realization made him smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Super-special awesome thanks to my beta readers Dragondancer5150 and KittChaos! (Yes, we all managed to miss the two times I called Atem "Yami" in this chapter, but the final fault is mine. The problem has been fixed. Thanks to the eagle-eyed readers who pointed the mistake out to me.)

Chapter 6

The next morning, Yugi sat propped against a small mountain of fluffy pillows he was quite sure had not been there when he went to bed, and blinked at the breakfast tray that had materialized across his lap. The tray was loaded with more kinds of breakfast foods than he had ever seen in one place outside of an all-you-can-eat buffet. He squinted blearily at Atem. "Does this mean you slept well? Because you seem to be in an awfully good mood this morning…"

Standing beside Yugi's bed, Atem shrugged. "I dozed. Perhaps for as long as half an hour."

Forkful of pancake halfway to his mouth, Yugi paused. "Genies don't sleep?"

Atem opened his mouth… then hesitated. He looked thoughtful. "You know, if you had asked me that yesterday, I would have said no."

But he claimed to have "dozed" the night before, so… "Don't you _know_?"

Atem looked annoyed. "How would I know? I have never been in the physical world long enough for it to matter."

Oh. Yugi kept forgetting about that aspect of the genie's reality. To cover his embarrassment, Yugi stuffed the bite of pancake into his mouth and chewed. After a few seconds of industrious masticating, a new question occurred to him. "So, if you didn't really sleep… What _did_ you do all night?"

The expression that stole across Atem's face made Yugi wonder if he really wanted to know the answer. His hands clenched in the sheets. "Oh, god. _What_ did you _do_?"

"Once the night grew quiet, I found I could move farther from your side. So, I explored the house for a bit."

"You went downstairs?" Yugi found Atem's nod reassuring. The thought of the genie spending the night watching him sleep had been weighing on Yugi's mind. "Did you watch TV?"

"No." Atem's lip curled in obvious distaste. He hesitated, then, in a soft voice, admitted, "I have not had the freedom to do as I choose in… a very long time. For several hours, I made offerings for my family's _kau_ and simply thought about those I've lost. Afterward, I found a book about exotic foods on one of your shelves and created a feast so that I could sample all the tastes." He looked away, clearly uncomfortable with revealing so much of himself. "To be honest, I spent most of the night grooming my horses."

"Oh, well, that's nice." Then the import of that sentence sank in and Yugi gaped at the genie. "Did you just say you had a _horse_ in my house?"

"I was a charioteer," Atem said, deadpan expression unwavering. "When your life depends on your chariot team, you learn to take better care of them than you do of yourself. I… miss them."

Yugi chewed on that for a second, but one thing kept sticking in his mental craw. "You had a _horse_ in my _house_?"

"No."

Yugi started to relax. Somehow, he'd misunderstood. "Oh. Well-"

"I had _two_ horses in your house."

"_Two horses_!"

"I _said_ it was my chariot team." Atem returned Yugi's glare, with interest. He really was much better at it than Yugi. "Two horses are required to pull an Egyptian chariot. You are an archaeologist, are you not? Shouldn't you know these things?"

"Well, excuse me for not thinking anyone would have a _chariot team_ in my _living room_!"

"I cleaned up after them."

"_There were horses in my house all night_!"

"I restored everything to its pre-horse condition," Atem snapped. "If I had not told you, you would never have known they were there."

There is a reason ignorance is bliss. As much as Yugi tried not to picture a pair of chariot horses prancing - and doing other, more elemental things - on his living room carpet, the image simply wouldn't go away. He groaned. He shouldn't be expected to deal with this sort of thing before noon, especially not without copious amounts of coffee.

With a supreme effort of will, Yugi shifted mental gears. "So. A feast, huh? How do you not weigh 500 pounds? I mean, you scarfed down a whole pizza by yourself, you practically cleaned out the candy counter at the theater, and now you're having one-man feasts in the night. Joey'll eat anything that's not nailed down and doesn't actively try to eat him first, but even he has a stopping point. How can you eat so much and not gain an ounce?"

"I don't need food any more than I need sleep." Atem winked and stole a strawberry from Yugi's tray. "I just enjoy the taste."

"You don't get hungry?"

"No. Conversely, I never feel full, either."

"Huh." Yugi lifted a small juice glass and took a sip of the dark red liquid inside. He blinked and shot a surprised look at the genie. "That's really good. What is it?"

"Pomegranate juice." Atem smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

When Yugi emptied the glass in one gulp, it refilled itself as the beer pitcher had the night before. He took another drink before turning back to his pancakes.

Atem watched him eat. "Have you given any more thought to your wishes?"

Mouth full of pancake, Yugi frowned at the genie. After a quick chew-and-swallow, he asked, "Have you changed you mind? You want me to hurry, after all?"

"No! I'm simply… curious. I've never had a master who couldn't think of at least one wish right away."

"Huh. Did your previous masters know what they were getting into by solving the puzzle?"

"Not at first, I suppose. But after a time, I found that legends had grown up around the puzzle - and me. So, my later masters knew what solving the puzzle would bring them." Atem cocked his head. "Why?"

"I thought the puzzle was a tourist souvenier."

"You mean…?"

"I had no idea genies were even real! I was just… passing the time until my new assistant showed up to help with the Inventory from Hell." Yugi waved a hand. "And, instead, I got you."

Atem's composure shattered, and he gaped at Yugi. "You- _Passing the time_?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry."

Atem huffed in a now-I've-heard-of-everything kind of way and shook his head. "In that case, I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising you can't think of a wish."

"Well…" A slow smile spread over Yugi's face. "As it happens, I _have_ thought of one."

The ease fled from Atem's posture. His expression settling into its former mask, he straightened. "I await your command, O master."

While Atem's reaction bothered Yugi - it seemed odd after their relaxed conversation - he was too excited about having come up with the perfect wish to dwell on it. Pushing the tray aside, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "It would be easiest to show you what I want. Give me a minute to shower and dress, and I'll take you to-" A sudden notion struck him. "Um. Would _you_ like a shower?"

"With you?"

Yugi was surprised he didn't spontaneously combust from the heat of the look Atem gave him.

"No!" Yugi yelped, flushing as the image of a very wet (and very naked) genie flashed through his brain. No, no. Mustn't go there. _Why not?_ Yugi's libido wailed. _You know you want to. Look at him! And he practically offered _-_ you wouldn't even have to use a wish_!

_Argh_. Yugi gulped and wrestled his hormones under control. "I just - I mean, you keep saying you want to experience- I thought real water- Oh, forget it." He buried his face in his hands. "Just forget it."

Gentle hands cupped his, urging them away from his face. Sheepish, Yugi looked up into Atem's warm gaze. "I thank you for your generosity. It would be wonderful to feel water on my skin after so long."

"Oh. Okay," Yugi murmured, captivated by the soft smile on Atem's lips. "You can go first. There are clean towels on the rack behind the bathroom door."

Atem started toward the bathroom, then glanced back over his shoulder. "You're certain?"

"It's just a shower." Yugi grinned at the anticipation he could see dancing in Atem's eyes. "Go on, already. I'll finish my breakfast while I wait."

Returning the grin, Atem disappeared into the bathroom across the hall.

Yugi really had intended to eat. But Atem left both the bedroom and the bathroom doors open so he could hear if Yugi called (or had a spontaneous wish attack or something) and the bathroom mirror was perfectly aligned to show Yugi a spectacular view of the genie's nude body - broad shoulders, lean torso, and perfect backside - as he stepped into the shower. Frozen with his fork poised at his lips, Yugi promptly forgot all about breakfast. He barely remembered to breathe. The fork dropped from Yugi's fingers, his brain stuttering to a halt as all the blood in his body raced farther south.

Oh. My. _God_. The few brain cells Yugi possessed that were still capable of doing anything other than imagining pressing himself up against that gloriously naked body informed him that, when his turn came, he'd have to crank the shower as cold as it could go. Did the tap have an _arctic glacier_ setting? He'd need it.

It took almost a full minute before he realized the persistent ringing noise wasn't his floundering brain, but the front doorbell. With a groan, Yugi slid off the bed, threw on his battered flannel housecoat, and limped downstairs as fast as… circumstances… allowed.

When he opened the door, his next-door-neighbor beamed at him.

Her gaze skimmed over his attire and tousled appearance. She cocked an eyebrow and drawled, "Sorry to get you out of bed, hon." Only Mai Valentine could make such an innocent sentence sound so lascivious.

"That's okay." Yugi tugged his robe closer. "Did you need something?"

She leaned against the doorframe and frowned at him. "This is going to sound strange, but… It's Valon."

Instantly, Yugi's mild irritation transmuted to concern. "Your boyfriend? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. He swears he saw your car vanish into thin air last night."

_Uh-oh_. Yugi thought fast. "Um, no offense, but - Had he, maybe, been drinking?"

"Probably." She grimaced. "And, if that were the only thing, I wouldn't even be over here, but…"

Yugi tensed.

"Apparently, it kept bugging him, so he came over here last night - sometime after midnight, he says - just to see if he had imagined the whole thing."

"And?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"The car was in the garage."

Yugi started to relax.

"But then, he says he saw the whole house… change."

Yugi tensed up again.

"According to Valon, the front of the house _expanded_ somehow." Mai's brow was furrowing, in that not-quite-a-frown way she had of trying to avoid wrinkles. "I know how crazy this all sounds, Yugi, but he swears the house got bigger and then he heard… animal sounds… coming from inside."

Yugi resisted the urge to cringe. "Uh, what kind of animal sounds… exactly?"

Mai opened her mouth to tell him - and froze that way, her jaw hanging open as she stared at something over his shoulder. Even before he heard the deep voice shout "Master Mutou!" from the stairway behind him, Yugi's sense of impending doom returned. _Oh, no_…

Pivoting slowly, he watched a certain genie thunder down the stairs, clad only in a few inadequate soap bubbles and an aura of righteous indignation.

"Which part of 'I must remain within reach of your voice' do you not comprehend?" Atem stalked toward them, his exasperated gaze locked on his master. He was clearly upset - and ill-supplied in the clothing department.

Beside Yugi, Mai "_meeped_" and smothered a giggle. Yugi would've been more worried about her reaction, but he was too busy absorbing the sight of Atem - a completely, deliciously _nude_ Atem - descending on them like a glistening, angry, (nude!) god. Water droplets gleamed on the genie's bare skin. Helpless to do otherwise, Yugi followed the path of one droplet as it traced a path over lean, well-defined abdominal muscles, past the dip of Atem's navel, and -

"Yugi Mutou!" Mai's scolding voice yanked Yugi's attention away from Atem (who was, as Yugi's stunned libido could well atest, oh-my-god _nude_!). "You've been holding out on me. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Still staring at Atem, who seemed quite oblivious to his nudity and their reactions to it, Yugi licked his suddenly dry lips. Arms folded over his bare chest, Atem regarded him with an impatient frown and a raised eyebrow. Mai prodded him in the ribs.

"Well, I guess I know why you were still in bed," she said, with another laugh. "So, tell me. Who is this gorgeous hunk of manhood - and where have you been hiding him?"

For one brief moment, Yugi considered using a token to wish the last few minutes had never happened. He scrubbed one hand over his face and took a calming breath before making the introductions. "Mai Valentine, Atem-"

"Sahnehsoo." Atem's bare feet whispered over the carpet as he stepped forward to take Mai's hand. A second passed before Yugi - blinking in astonishment over the invented surname - realized that Atem had acquired black jeans and a white chambray shirt, left open to reveal a tantalizing expanse of tanned chest, as he crossed the foyer. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Valentine."

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine, gorgeous," Mai purred. Her gaze swept over him and her not-frown returned. "You know, I could've sworn you were naked just a moment ago-"

"Must have been a trick of the light!" Yugi blurted.

Mai cut her eyes toward him. "You didn't see him? He wasn't wearing a stitch!"

"I'm sure I would've noticed if Atem were naked," Yugi said, which was nothing but the truth. Certain parts of him hadn't _stopped_ noticing, even though the genie was now fully clothed. "Are you feeling okay, Mai?"

"I guess I _have_ been under a lot of stress, lately." Mai was a casino dealer on a cruise ship, and this was their busy season. "Maybe I'm seeing things."

"You probably just need to get some rest." Yugi hated himself for lying to her, but he couldn't tell her the truth. He gently ushered Mai back across the threshold. "Maybe you should go take a nap."

"You're probably right…" She seemed more befuddled than simple shock could account for. Yugi cast a suspicious look at the genie, who smirked at him. Peachy. Now Yugi could add "mesmerizing the neighbors" to the list of Atem's magical misdemeanors. "I'll see you later, Yugi."

"Okay. Take care!"

Once they were alone and the front door safely closed, Yugi rounded on Atem. "How can one person cause so much disruption in such a short time? Is it some special talent that only genies have?"

"_Me_?" Atem gaped at him. "_I'm_ not the one who keeps ignoring the rules."

"Oh, you are _so_ not making this my fault!"

"Were you not the one who wandered off while I was taking a shower - a shower, I remind you, that _you_ suggested." The genie's scowl darkened. "I have explained-"

"Look, you… you… Look! I didn't ask for a genie to pop into my life and complicate everything. I was fine. Sure, I had a few problems - who doesn't? But I was coping, getting by." Yugi rammed both hands into his hair and hung on, as if he needed an anchor. "Then you show up and suddenly I've got an impossible inventory, friends who think I'm having an affair, chariot horses in my living room, and a neighbor who thinks she's losing her mind because one minute you're stark naked and the next you're not. _How am I, directly or otherwise, benefiting from this?_"

"The shower was your idea." Atem remained stubborn on that point.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't also suggest you wander downstairs in your birthday suit!" Yugi advanced on the genie. He had to stand on tip-toe, a precarious maneuver because of his leg, to get in Atem's face. "At some point, I _am_ supposed to actually _benefit_ from your presence, right? Or do you just create so many problems your masters are happy when you finally go away?"

Power flared around Atem. Sparks literally crackled from his fingertips and the ends of his hair, which had spiked up as it dried. "Most _normal_ people are glad to have a genie around."

Yugi's eyes widened, then narrowed. In a dangerous voice, he grated, "How am I not _'normal'_?"

"Where do I begin? How about the fact that you don't believe in magic, for starters!" Atem shot back without hesitation.

"What?"

"_What_?"

Anger derailed by Atem's unexpected answer, Yugi blinked up at him. "…The only reason you think I'm not normal is because I don't believe in magic?"

"No, there's also your inexplicable reticence when it comes to making wishes." Atem glared down at him. "But since I'm benefiting from the delay, I'm prepared to overlook that one."

Oh. Well. Yugi didn't know what to say to that. Atem was obviously aware of Yugi's shorter leg - even if Yugi hadn't made it a point to tell him, the genie had made solicitous gestures more than once in order to spare Yugi pain, though he hadn't made a fuss about it. Atem didn't seem to find Yugi's leg, or his height, worthy of comment. Like a lot of things that happened around Atem, this, too, was a novel experience for Yugi.

"Oh." It was hard to hold onto his outrage in the face of Atem's explanation. "You know what? Let's just forget about it. Okay?"

"_Fine_." Seeming more frustrated than angry, Atem was so tense Yugi could've bounced quarters off him. "Shall we proceed to this fabled first wish of yours?"

"Good idea." Yugi raked his fingers through his hair and wondered how long it would take him to get ready. Then he remembered - genie. "Okay, forget what I said before. Give me one of those magic shave-and-showers, and I'd like my khaki cargo pants and the green polo shirt from my closet."

He had barely finished speaking before he was clean, coiffed, and clad in the requested clothing, including a pair of loafers with his usual built-up sole. The genie _could_ be taught! About some things, anyway. "Thanks. But say 'alakazam,' damn it!"

"Alakazamdammit."

Yugi stared at the deadpan expression on Atem's face - and then laughed, the tension draining from his shoulders as he snickered. Atem's lips twitched, but he maintained his otherwise stoic mask. Yugi shook his head and went to get his car keys from the peg in the kitchen.

Atem followed. "We're going somewhere?"

"Yeah. I figure it'll be easier to show you what I want rather than trying to explain it."

"Very well." Atem was staring rather fixedly at the keys dangling from Yugi's fingers. "There is no need for you to drive. I could simply transport us-"

"No!" Yugi took a deep, calming breath. "No. Thanks. If we just beam-in out of nowhere, somebody's bound to have a heart attack - probably me." Yugi's brain finally caught up with something Atem had said earlier. "Hang on a minute. Did you tell Mai your last name was '_sanesu_'?"

"Yes."

Yugi blinked at him. "You actually told her your name was 'son of the king'? What are you, nuts?"

"It seemed highly unlikely that Ms. Valentine would understand the ancient Egyptian language, master. Unlike yourself."

"Parents," Yugi said, by way of explanation. Then both of his eyebrows climbed into his hairline. "Wait. You were… making a joke?" A joke Atem had known only Yugi would get.

Atem just looked smug and refused to answer. His gaze drifted back to the keys in Yugi's hand.

Yugi held up an admonishing finger. "Oh, no. It may not look like much, but my car runs, gets good gas mileage, and is paid for. There is no way in hell I'm letting you drive it!"

Atem drew himself up to his full height. "I'll have you know I was an excellent charioteer."

"Like that translates to automobiles." Yugi snorted. "No. No way. Just get that thought right out of your mind. Pigs will fly before I let you drive!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Yugi didn't spot any porcine aviators, but he was pretty sure most of his life flashed before his eyes on the short drive to the Golden Age Assisted Living facility.

The car slithered to a stop, nosing down as Atem stood on the brakes. He had gotten the hang of acceleration a bit too quickly for Yugi's peace of mind; deceleration - not so much. Without waiting for Atem to switch off the motor, Yugi pried his fingers loose from their death-grip on the dash and practically fell out the passenger door. A second later, Atem was there, picking him up off the asphalt.

"Well," Yugi said with patently false cheer, "that's my near-death experience for the year."

"It wasn't that bad!" Atem bristled at the slur on his driving skills. "I got us here in one piece, didn't I?"

"Yes, and you only had to magic three cars, two fire hydrants, and a very startled llama to do it."

Atem's brow furrowed into an irritated frown. "What the hell was a llama doing on the highway, anyway?"

"It was minding its own business, inside a trailer heading for a petting zoo." Yugi shook his head. "I don't even want to think about tomorrow's headlines."

"_Hmph_." Atem folded his arms over his chest. "No one will remember anything out of the ordinary."

"You made them forget?"

Atem nodded.

"Well, that's… good, I guess." Sighing, Yugi straightened his clothes and looked across the parking lot to the low brick building that was their destination. "Before we go inside, I want you to promise me you'll behave. No funny stuff. Just grant my wish and we leave. Got it?"

"If that is what you desire."

Yugi stared hard into Atem's eyes. "I mean it. No magic except for my wish."

"I _have_ agreed, master." Atem cocked an eyebrow. "And I _do_ have an attention span greater than that of a goldfish."

Yugi had his doubts about that, but he kept them to himself. He shut the car door, only then noticing how much shinier it seemed than it had when they left the garage. Apparently, the other traffic wasn't the only thing Atem had magicked on the drive over.

Letting it slide for now, Yugi took Atem's hand and tugged him toward the main entrance.

The doors slid open to let them pass. Too bad the center didn't have automatic doors. Yugi shot a narrow-eyed look at Atem, but resisted the urge to punch him in the arm. From Atem's bland expression it seemed clear he didn't even realize what he had done. Using magic must have become second nature for him. Yugi could only hope the genie wouldn't do anything too obvious where anyone else could see.

Atem looked around curiously. "Why are we here?"

"You'll see." Yugi towed him to the reception desk where the bored receptionist popped her gum at him by way of greeting. "We're here to visit Professor Hawkins."

She checked her computer. "Looks like he's in the craft room. That's down the left-hand corridor and-"

"I know where it is, thanks." Yugi smiled and headed in the proper direction, Atem beside him.

They found the craft room without any problems. Yugi had been to the center plenty of times to visit his old mentor, and he knew his way around. Only a handful of people were using the room, clustered around a round worktable piled high with colorful papers, paints, and glue. Yugi nodded toward the gray-haired gentleman standing by one of the windows and staring out at the sunny garden beyond.

Yugi touched Atem's arm. "See the man by the window? That's Arthur Hawkins. After my family died, he became something of a mentor to me. He was my grandpa's best friend…" Yugi shook himself. "None of my remaining relatives or friends were interested in archaeology, and Professor Hawkins always encouraged me. It's thanks to him that I got my doctorate. Even when I got discouraged, he wouldn't let me quit. I owe him a lot."

"Yugi…" Atem's voice was gentle. "Why are we here?"

"Arthur Hawkins was a brilliant man. His work on the ancient Orichalcos legends alone -" Yugi cut himself off with a sharp shake of his head and turned to face Atem. "He has Alzheimer's. His mind has deteriorated to the point where he doesn't recognize his own granddaughter. Or me."

Silhouetted against the window, the professor seemed unaware of his surroundings. Hawkins was a tall man, but his posture had grown stooped with age. It pained Yugi to see his mentor in such a state. He chewed his lip, thinking. This, he decided, was worth a token. Yugi took a deep breath.

"I wish-" A token appeared in his hand, warm and solid against his palm. Yugi clenched his hand around it. "I wish Professor Hawkins' Alzheimer's to be cured and his mind restored to the way it was before he became ill." Wide eyes shining with hope, he held out the token, offering it to Atem. "That's my wish."

-o0o-

Atem's heart clenched. "Yugi… I'm sorry. This wish… I cannot grant it."

"You can! I've thought really hard about this. See, it _is_ a selfish wish, because seeing Professor Hawkins restored to the way he was would make me happy, and happiness is a benefit, right? So, you have to grant it!"

"The rule says you must receive a _direct_ benefit. While curing Professor Hawkins' disease might make you happy, only Professor Hawkins would benefit directly."

"No, please…" Yugi clutched at Atem's arm tightly enough to bruise. "Listen, I'll give you the other two tokens back. I don't even want them! Just give me this. Please? I won't ask for anything else, I promise. Please, Atem, _please_. Please grant my wish."

The sincerity of Yugi's pleas twisted something inside Atem. For the first time in millennia, doubt cracked his rock solid belief in the utter selfishness of humankind. No master had ever begged him for anything, much less to give away wishes for another's benefit. But, staring into Yugi's eyes, Atem knew Yugi meant every word.

"If I could give you this, I would." Atem forced the words past the constriction in his throat. "But-"

"No! No 'buts'!" A sheen of unshed tears made Yugi's eyes luminous. His fingers dug into Atem's biceps. "Look at him. Please, just look- He had such a brilliant mind, such - And now he can't - He doesn't even understand _why_ -"

"Yugi, I'm sorry. I can't grant this wish."

"_Please_." Yugi's voice was a hoarse whisper. "Please, I know you can help him. Just try. Please."

With gentle hands, Atem cupped Yugi's shoulders. "I admire you for wanting to do this. More than you can know. I have never known anyone with such a kind and generous heart. But I cannot do as you ask."

Yugi jerked free of the loose grasp. "Don't give me that! Why won't you even try?"

"The rules -"

"Don't you dare quote those damned rules to me!" Yugi scrubbed the back of his hand over his eyes. It came away wet, but he didn't care. "Why are you doing this? You said you were here to make my dreams come true. Does it amuse you to toy with my expectations like this?"

"I have not!"

"The hell you haven't," Yugi growled, spinning awkwardly on his heel and stalking back into the corridor. "And the hell with _you_. If you won't help me-" He stopped and glared at Atem. "I want to speak to your boss - your supervisor or superior or whatever the hell you call the head genie."

"There is no 'head genie'!"

"Then, whatever you call the guy who made up these stupid rules. I want to talk to him!"

Ordinarily, being spoken to in such a manner would have had Atem reconsidering the newt option, but he couldn't get angry with Yugi now. The betrayal in Yugi's eyes tore at him.

"The rules are simply the rules," Atem said. "I don't know who made them or why, I just have to obey them." However, he had never had reason to attempt to circumvent this particular rule. He didn't know if he could, but for Yugi's sake, he was willing to try. He held out his hand. "Give me the token."

Hope lit Yugi's face, and he pressed the token into Atem's hand. "Thank you. Oh, thank you!"

"I don't think this will work," Atem warned softly. "But I will do what I can."

Yugi hugged him tightly, and then gave him a not-so-gentle shove back into the doorway. In other circumstances, Atem would have found Yugi's impatience amusing. Atem's fingers closed around the hexagonal token, the edges digging into his palm. He took a deep breath, focusing his concentration on his master's heartfelt desire, on the magic residing inside him. He waited for the pulse to strengthen, willed the magic to fill him before surging through the token with the white flare of a granted wish. One heartbeat passed, then two.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, putting every ounce of his considerable willpower behind the effort. _For Yugi_, he thought. _Please, let this work. Let me give him this_.

But the magic rejected him. There was no white flare, no surge of power as the wish was granted. There was nothing but the certain knowledge that he had failed his master. For some reason, that knowledge saddened him as it never had before. Opening his hand, he offered the token back to Yugi.

"_No_…" Shaking his head, Yugi refused to accept the token. With a sigh, Atem slipped it into Yugi's pocket.

"I'm sorry." If the wish had not been beyond his personal power to grant, he would have done it, even without the token. He reached for Yugi's hand, only have his own batted away.

"I never thought you'd be so cruel." Yugi spun away from him and ran, gait awkward even with the cane. The sight - and Yugi's accusation - stabbed through Atem's heart.

Atem materialized in the parking lot in time to watch Yugi's car peel onto the highway with a squeal of smoking tires. The genie sighed. He blinked out and reappeared in the passenger seat beside his furious master. "I'm not trying to be cruel. The rules -"

"I don't want to hear about your damned rules." Yugi's hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel. "In fact, I don't want to hear anything from you!"

"You're driving in the wrong lane."

"Argh!" Yugi yanked on the wheel, dodging oncoming traffic and getting the car back into the proper lane. "I said don't talk to me!"

"Yes, master. Next time, I will allow you to drive head-on into a speeding semi-truck."

Yugi shot him a fulminating glare. "You are the _worst_ genie _ever_."

Well, _that_ hurt. Atem hated being a genie, hated the forced servitude and isolation, and the lonely dreams which showed him life but kept him from living it. But he had come to take a perverse pride in at least doing the damned job well. To have his failure rubbed in his face, especially by Yugi, stung more than just his pride.

When Yugi slammed on the brakes, Atem realized, with a surge of relief, that they were home. He relaxed his death-grip on the edge of his seat, certain his fingers had left permanent dents in the upholstery. He glanced over to find Yugi glowering at the steering wheel. Atem opened his mouth.

Apparently sensing that Atem was about to speak, Yugi snapped, "_Don't_." He took a deep breath, then another, letting it out slowly. "I don't care what you do - just don't talk to me for awhile, okay?"

Reaching for the door handle, Yugi froze when Atem said, "I am only trying to serve you, master. I am not free to pick and choose which rules I will obey."

The plastic handle creaked in Yugi's grip. "What part of 'don't talk to me' don't you understand?"

Stung by the sheer dislike in Yugi's voice, Atem bit off his apology. What did it matter if his master was angry with him? In the past, had he not taken pleasure in thwarting his master's desires? He tried to ignore the little voice in the back of his mind that whispered to him that this master was different.

Yugi climbed out of the car and shot toward the house as fast as his legs could carry him. His limp, Atem noted with narrowed eyes, had become quite pronounced. Obviously, Yugi had over-stressed his leg running from the assisted living center, and made things worse on the drive home.

At the doorway, Yugi whirled on a silent Atem, who had followed along behind him. "I have something important to do tonight, and I don't want you to mess it up. You got that? I mean it, Atem. If you screw this up for me, I'll - I'll - I don't know what I'll do, but I promise you won't like it!"

Atem didn't much like _this_, either, but he clenched his jaw and forced out the words of his standard reply. "I exist only to serve you, my master."

"Don't start with me!" Yugi threw his hands up in an I'm-at-the-end-of-my-rope gesture. "You spout off a lot of subservient nonsense, but what you _say_ and what you _do_ are at opposite poles."

Yugi jabbed his index finger at the genie's chest. "I want your word that you won't do anything to screw up my date with Seto. No weird shit. No embarrassing statements I'll have to lie to cover up. And absolutely _no magic_. Can you at least do _that_ for me?"

Atem gritted his teeth. He knew why Yugi was so angry, knew that anger covered Yugi's disappointment. Biting back angry words of his own, Atem bowed.

"If you _dare_ spout that 'your wish is my command' line, I will punch you right in the nose," Yugi warned Atem as he rose.

"Yes, master."

A sharp nod. "I'll hold you to that," Yugi said, and stalked into the house.

Keeping as much distance between them as the curse allowed, Atem followed his master. He refrained from pointing out that he hadn't promised anything - and had no intention of doing so. "Worst genie ever" or not, Atem had to obey the rules. Even when obeying the rules meant disobeying his master.

Slouching through the kitchen in Yugi's wake, Atem gave one of the chairs a vicious kick. One thought kept clamoring for his attention.

Who the hell was Seto?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Yugi spent some time playing the most violent video-game in his collection, working off his frustration with a certain genie's failure to live up to expectations. The genie in question draped himself over an armchair at the back of the room, as far from Yugi as it was possible to get and still be in the same room. When Yugi looked at him out of the corner of his eye, he decided the genie was sulking. It was proof of the unfairness of the universe that even that looked good on him.

When Yugi surfaced from his game-induced trance and peeked at Atem again, the genie sat hunched over a snake-shaped game board, playing against a seemingly invisible opponent. At least, that's what it looked like to Yugi, as half the pegs moved around the spiral board without anyone touching them. Shaking his head, but feeling less likely to explode than he had before, Yugi turned back to his own game.

After an hour, Yugi had calmed down about Atem -- and gotten nervous about Seto. In the aftermath of Sagalassos, Seto Kaiba had been one of the few among Yugi's colleagues to support him, refusing to give weight to the rumors about Yugi's supposed crime. After months of friendship and casual dating, Yugi had hopes tonight might prove special. At least, he didn't think he had misinterpreted the hints Seto seemed to be dropping…

Turning off the TV and game console, Yugi headed upstairs to finally get his real shower. He pretended not to notice Atem shadowing him up the stairs and lurking in the hall while Yugi went into the bathroom. Neither of them spoke. Yugi shut the door firmly behind him, hoping the genie would take the hint that he was not welcome.

Wrapped in his thick flannel robe, Yugi exited the bathroom and padded across the hall to the bedroom. When Atem tried to follow, Yugi shut the door before Atem could cross the threshold. The genie simply reappeared on the other side, inside the bedroom. Yugi glared at him. "I want to get dressed."

"I'm not stopping you."

"Yes, you are!" Yugi tightened his robe around him. "I'm not changing clothes in front of you."

This time, Atem didn't hold back the eye-roll. "I'll turn my back." When Yugi didn't move, he added, "I promise not to look."

"Damn right, you won't look! You'll wait in the hall." Yugi pointed a finger at the door. "Go! And don't talk to me, I'm still mad at you."

Atem vanished.

Yugi spent a moment indulging in paranoia, wondering if the genie was really gone, before saying to hell with it and pulling off his robe. He dressed in his best black suit and cobalt silk shirt. He wore the tie Seto had given him for his birthday, and his black dress shoes with the built-up sole. He even tried to tame his hair before giving it up as a lost cause. Finally, he opened the bedroom door and came face-to-face with a subdued genie.

Confronted with Atem's dejected posture, Yugi relented. "Do I look okay?"

Atem gave him a sullen glance from beneath thick, dark lashes, but remained silent. Yugi frowned. Did he look that bad? Nerves returning, he smoothed non-existent wrinkles from his shirt, then looked back at the genie. "Well? Cat got your tongue?"

"You commanded me not to speak to you."

"Obviously, I've changed my mind or I wouldn't have asked you a question." Yugi smoothed his shirt again. "So? Am I presentable or not?"

Atem's dark gaze drifted over Yugi's body like a lingering caress. Yugi felt his face heat up beneath that smoldering regard. Maybe he should've kept his mouth shut. It was safer when Atem was pretending to ignore him.

"You look very handsome, my most enticing master." Atem's voice was husky and even deeper than usual.

Yugi felt as if his face was on fire. "Um. Thanks." Darting around for somewhere to settle that wasn't Atem's eyes, Yugi's gaze landed on the clock beside the bed. A quarter 'til -- and Seto was always on time. In fact, he was the most punctual person Yugi had ever met, the polar opposite of Joey Wheeler. You could set your watch by Seto.

Atem startled Yugi from his musings. "Who is this 'Seto'?"

"Huh?" His mind still on his impending date, Yugi glanced absently at Atem -- and all his mental processes ground to a screeching halt.

Lounging against the wall, Atem rested most of his weight on one shoulder, his long legs crossed lazily at the ankles. Yugi's gaze went immediately to those legs, now encased in tight black leather. Against his will, his eyes followed the long line of Atem's torso, clad in a sleeveless leather shirt that buckled snugly across his chest. Low-heeled black boots and the usual accessories completed the picture -- one of a male model in a bondage catalog.

It took a moment for Yugi to realize his jaw was dangling somewhere in the vicinity of his knees, which had gone a bit weak. Oh. My. _God_.

Atem raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"_Nuh_." Yugi had to work his mouth a few times to form enough saliva to get his vocal apparatus under control. "I mean…" _Nuh_ about summed it up, but Yugi couldn't help feeling that something more articulate was required. "Uh, you look… nice."

Atem's other eyebrow rose to join its twin in flirting with Atem's hairline. The corners of his mouth twitched. "Thank you, master. I'm pleased you approve."

Wrenching his gaze away from the way the leather clung to the lean lines of the genie's body, Yugi sought refuge in the clock again. He told himself the butterflies kick-boxing in his stomach were due to anticipation -- about his _date_. Not any other kind of anticipation. And definitely not any kind of anticipation having to do with Atem. No matter how… nice… he looked.

_Seto_, Yugi reminded himself sternly. _Remember Seto? The guy who's taking you to the most expensive restaurant in town?_ _He's the one you should be thinking about, not_-- He didn't let himself look at the genie as he walked past him and hurried down the stairs, but he could feel Atem's presence close behind him all the way.

They had reached the living room before it occurred to Yugi that he was going to have explain Atem's presence to his date. Oh, _crap_. Seto wasn't likely to be as accepting of the "old college buddies" story as Téa had been. "Oh, god. How am I going to explain you to Seto?"

Atem smirked as he glided up beside Yugi. His breath tickled Yugi's ear as he leaned in close to murmur, "Are you in love with him, master?"

A shiver of… something… slithered down Yugi's spine. Atem smelled of frankincense and leather. Yugi caught himself as he swayed toward the genie like an iron filing drawn to a magnet, and sprang away from him as if burned.

"I…" He didn't know. He felt something for Seto -- friendship and gratitude, certainly. But, love? He wanted to. Didn't he? "Maybe." Maybe tonight would tell, one way or the other.

"But, he is important to you." Atem advanced. Again, Yugi retreated. "Is he not?"

The sofa hit the back of Yugi's legs and he fell onto the cushions. Atem followed him down, pinning Yugi beneath him. The scent of spice and leather and warm human male filled Yugi's senses. He licked his lips, staring up into mahogany eyes as his brain turned to mush. "Um, what were we talking about?"

Atem's smirk turned predatory as he trailed hot fingertips along the pulse pounding in Yugi's neck. His touch was like flame. Yugi's skin tingled in its wake. "Seto."

Who? Yugi blinked, trying to untangle his thoughts. Atem's fingers glided over Yugi's cheek, then teased the curve of his ear before burying themselves in Yugi's hair. "Um…"

"Your…_date_, master. This Seto person. Exactly what is he to you?"

Oh, right. Seto. How _did_ Yugi feel about him? "He's… my friend." After last summer, Yugi had needed all the friends he could get. He had Téa, Tristan, and Joey, of course, but none of them worked at the university. When Yugi's colleagues had turned against him, Seto had stood by him. "Seto helped me, took my side against the other university regents… He's been great, always there for me when I needed someone. I owe him a lot."

"I see." Atem was so close that Yugi could feel that deep voice resonating in Atem's chest. "Perhaps you mistake gratitude for deeper feelings?"

"No, I --" Yugi's denial died in his throat. Atem had shifted closer, the weight of his body pressing Yugi deeper into the cushions. Atem nuzzled Yugi's cheek, lips brushing Yugi's jawline. Yugi's breath hitched. "I--"

His heart pounding so that his pulse drowned out all other sound, Yugi clung to Atem, his body molding itself to Atem's. Another inch and their mouths would meet. Yugi arched, desperate to close that final inch…

Oh, god. What was he _doing_?

Surprise more than strength allowed Yugi to buck Atem off. He scrambled up from the sofa and put that heavy piece of furniture between him and temptation. Temptation watched him with glittering mahogany eyes. Yugi hugged himself, disgusted at his own actions. How could he have tried to kiss one man while waiting for another -- a man who expected to take Yugi to his bed tonight? He scrubbed one hand over his face. "I need a drink."

"Alakazam."

A glass of wine appeared in Yugi's hand. It said something about his state of mind that he didn't even flinch, just downed most of it in a single gulp. He didn't taste the wine, but the act of swallowing it steadied him. Not looking at Atem, Yugi said in a soft voice, "Seto cares about me -- in his own way."

Maybe it was hard for others to see, but Yugi could. He closed his eyes, his fingers tight on the bowl of the glass. Maybe Atem cared, too, in _his_ own way. But the genie would be gone as soon as Yugi made his third wish. Seto would still be there. Did it really matter if Yugi's feelings had started as gratitude? That didn't mean they couldn't become more. Giving himself a mental shake, Yugi tried to focus. An awful lot depended on the outcome of this date.

He slanted a look at Atem, who was still watching him with that unreadable expression. Yugi suppressed another shiver. "Are you sure you can't read minds?"

"No, I only sense things." Atem cocked an eyebrow, as if wondering at the non-sequitur. "I cannot read actual thoughts."

He "sensed things"? What did that mean? It still made Yugi nervous. "What kind of things?"

A negligent shrug, as if the genie was bored with the subject. "The good in a person's heart -- or the evil weighing it down. Most of the time, I can tell if someone is lying."

Yugi gave him a suspicious look from under his bangs. "Just how specific is this _sensing_ of yours?"

"It is usually a general impression of things, meant to assist me in serving my master. It is a rare occasion that I get anything truly specific."

Had any of those rare occasions happened with Yugi? The butterflies were fighting a cage match in his stomach as Yugi wondered if Atem could sense how the timbre of his voice made Yugi tingle. Did he know that his touch left Yugi trembling for more? Could he tell that Yugi would be dreaming about a nude Atem descending the stairs for years to come?

"What do you--?" Yugi bit back the question. He was probably happier not knowing what Atem's magic had told him about Yugi. "Never mind."

Something softened in Atem's eyes. "I have never met another like you, Yugi. You have a good heart. I dare say it would balance against the feather of Ma'at on Anubis' scales." A faint crease formed between his brows. "Yet, I sense that something troubles you. What that something is, I do not know."

Atem circled the sofa, his gaze holding Yugi's so that Yugi felt frozen to the spot.  
Atem reached to cup Yugi's cheek and run the pad of his thumb over Yugi's lower lip. The wineglass fell from Yugi's nerveless fingers and vanished before it could hit the floor. Yugi didn't notice. His world had narrowed down to Atem's hand on his face and Atem's mouth lowering to claim his--

The doorbell rang.

The sound jerked Yugi back to reality. It was a cold, lonely place compared to the warm fantasy of Atem's embrace. The bell rang again, an impatient sound that told him whoever was at the door was jabbing at the button. It had to be Seto.

Yugi's chest felt tight and his palms tingled. He forced himself to step away from Atem, moving around him to head for the door. He was careful not to touch the genie again. He knew that if he did, he would be lost. _Seto_, he told himself. _Remember Seto?_ _The man who supported you when you needed it? The man waiting for you on the other side of that door? The man you can have an actual future with, unlike Atem, who isn't even human_. There was no future with a genie.

Halfway to the door, Yugi shot the genie a look. "Don't mess this up for me. I want your word that you'll be on your best behavior."

Atem remained silent.

Choosing to take that as assent, Yugi opened the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Seto! Right on time, as usual." Yugi stood aside to let Seto enter. He sounded far more cheerful than he felt. "You, um, look very nice."

"Who," said Seto, staring past Yugi with narrowed blue eyes, "is _he_?"

First Atem, now Seto. Sheer force of will kept Yugi from throwing up his hands and leaving the two of them to hash things out between them. He shut the door and turned to see Atem standing in the opening between foyer and living room. The genie was the picture of masculine confidence, shoulders back, head high, feet braced wide apart. Somehow, all that black leather made him seem taller, more imposing. His smirk was back, with a vengeance.

Yugi fought the urge to groan at the look in Seto's eyes as Seto met the challenge in Atem's posture and expression. Oh, god. And Yugi had thought he was doomed _before_. What could he say to defuse this situation?

Before Yugi could formulate a plan, Atem took the option out of his hands. The genie stepped forward, thrusting out his hand. "I'm Atem Sanesu, an… old friend… of Yugi's."

Seto just stared at Atem until Yugi's well-placed elbow convinced Seto to shake hands. He pulled back almost immediately and fixed Yugi with a speaking look.

"Um…" Yugi swallowed, then gave himself a mental shake. _Get a grip_. _What's the worst that could happen?_ "Atem, this is Seto Kaiba. He's on the board of regents at the university. Seto, Atem and I knew each other in college."

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Knew? In the Biblical sense?"

Speechless, Yugi could only gawk at Seto while feeling his blush attempt to make him spontaneously combust. He shot a glance at Atem, whose smirk had turned lecherous. Oh, shit. "No! No, no, no. We were just friends -- barely even friends, more like casual acquaintances, really…"

"Yugi!" Atem pressed a hand over his heart and took on a wounded expression. Yugi wanted to hit him. "Do I mean so little to you?"

Seto growled.

Yugi thought his heart might actually stop. Or explode right out of his chest. "Atem, stop teasing! You're going to give Seto the wrong impression."

"What's the right impression?" Seto demanded, then shook his head. "Never mind. We'll talk about it later. We need to leave _now_. Our reservations at the Regal are for eight o'clock."

For a moment, Yugi had no idea what he was talking about. Then it hit him: dinner reservations. Their date. Somehow, he'd forgotten all about that. Again. "I'll get my cane."

"Leave it," Seto said, taking Yugi's arm and glaring at Atem. "If you need additional support, you can lean on me."

And that, in his own unique way, was Seto being thoughtful. _He really does care_, Yugi thought. Maybe Seto's looks weren't as exotic as the genie's, but he was a handsome man, with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. At well over six feet tall, Seto towered over both Yugi and Atem, though the genie didn't seem impressed.

Yugi decided to cut things short before something genie-ish happened. "We don't want to be late! Let's go." He glanced back at Atem. "Don't wait up!"

Seto stopped in his tracks. Yugi tried tugging him toward the door, but it was like trying to move a mountain. Seto scowled at him. "He's staying here? With you?"

Since there was no point in denying it, Yugi nodded. Seto's grip on him tightened. The glare he fixed on Atem was nothing short of incandescent. "I'm sure you're capable of amusing yourself." Seto all but snarled the words. "We won't be back until tomorrow --after brunch, at the earliest."

Yugi hadn't thought it possible, but he felt his face get even hotter.

Atem shrugged. "The hour of our return is of no consequence to me."

"See you tomor--" The words froze in Yugi's throat. Had the genie said _our _return? He narrowed his eyes at Atem. "I'm sure you'll enjoy having the house all to yourself while I'm gone. There's food in the fridge, if you get hungry. You'll be okay _here_ tonight. _Alone_. Understand?"

"Perfectly." Atem smiled.

_Fuck_. The familiar sense of impending doom was back, stronger than ever, and it had brought its friend Panic. Yugi snatched open the door and, desperation lending him strength, almost threw Seto through it. Yugi held his breath as he ushered Seto down the walk toward the sports car parked at the curb. When nothing happened, he let out a sigh of relief. They were going to make it!

"Nice wheels," Atem said from mere inches behind them.

Yugi almost jumped out of his skin. Even Seto looked startled, his eyes narrowing, as he glanced between Atem and the closed door of the house.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yugi hissed at Atem, releasing Seto so that he could glare at the genie. All that practice was really paying off. Soon, Yugi would be glowering with the best of them. "Go back in the house!"

"Have you forgotten the rule?"

"_Rule_? Yugi, what is he talking about?" Seto demanded. "What rule?"

Yugi saw red. Not taking his eyes off Atem, Yugi said, "Seto, go on to the car. I'll just be a minute. I need to have a few words with Atem." Preferably four-letter ones.

Clearly unhappy about it, Seto gave a reluctant nod. "I'll wait for you by the car."

"Thanks. This'll only take a minute." As soon as Seto was out of earshot, Yugi turned on Atem and grated, "What. The. _Hell_?!"

Atem's expression was bland. "You seem agitated, master. Have you changed your mind about going to dinner?"

"No, I have _not_ changed my mind about going to dinner!"

"Shall we proceed, then?" Atem made as if to step past him. Yugi grabbed his arm.

"No! We shall _not_, because there is no _we_, there is _me_ and there is _Seto_. _You_ are staying _here_." It wasn't easy to shout in a whisper, but Yugi managed.

"Once again, my most forgetful master, I remind you that I must remain within reach of your voice at all times."

Yugi almost choked on his outrage. _Later_, he promised himself. _You can scream at him later_. "You are _not_ going with me on my date!"

"It's the rule."

"But-- You-- _Argh_!" Yugi clutched at his hair. "I promise you that I will not even _think_ the word 'wish' tonight. Seto and I need to be alone!"

Atem shrugged. "I could make myself invisible, if you prefer."

Oh, yeah, because an invisible voyeur was so much better than a visible tag-along. "I'd still know you were there!"

"No one else would."

That reasonable tone was working Yugi's last nerve. He balled up a fist and shook it at the world in general. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Are you talking to the universe or me, master?"

Either. Both. Yugi scrubbed both hands over his face. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you? You're trying to frustrate me straight into an early grave -- and it's damn well working! You're going to give me such high blood-pressure that my heart will explode right out of my chest. Will that make you happy?" Yugi grabbed Atem by the straps buckled across his chest and shook him. "_Will it_?"

Atem blinked at him. "My only happiness is to serve you."

"Argh!" Hands still fisted in the leather straps across Atem's chest, Yugi sagged against him and panted for breath. The damned genie really would be the death of him. Yugi straightened, raked his bangs back from his face, and peered at Atem with pleading eyes. "Why won't you listen to me? What do I have to say to make you understand?"

"I understand perfectly," Atem said. "But it makes no difference. I must go where my master goes."

No wonder Atem's past masters never kept him around for long. They were simply trying to preserve their own sanity. Yugi darted a look at Seto, who was leaning on the white sports car and watching them with an unreadable expression on his face. Yugi focused on Atem, trying to make him co-operate by sheer force of will.

"You can't follow me on a date. I'm not _that_ kinky!" Realizing what he'd just said, Yugi hastily added, "Not that I'm kinky in the first place -- I mean-- Oh, you know what I mean, and if you don't, I don't want to hear it! You _have_ to stay _here_. Or in the puzzle, or limbo, or Timbuktu for all I care. But you _cannot come with me_!"

"Is everything all right, Yugi?" Seto had decided to rejoin the party. Peachy.

Yugi nodded. "Everything's fine. Just give us another second, okay?"

"We're going to be late." Seto made it sound like a cardinal sin.

"It'll only take another second, I promise. Why don't you go ahead and start the car?"

Seto shot Atem a withering look that would have incinerated a lesser man at that range. It just bounced off the genie's impervious expression. Seto growled. "Fine. But if you're not in the car in two minutes, I'm leaving without you."

Yugi bristled at the tone. He didn't like it when people talked to him like that, but he really couldn't blame Seto for being upset. Once Seto was safely in the car, Yugi whirled on Atem. "You have to stay _here_."

"I cannot."

It was like beating his head against a brick wall. An incredibly sexy brick wall -- and it really should be illegal for Atem to look so good in those ridiculous pants -- but a brick wall, all the same. "Okay, look…" Yugi wracked his brain for a compromise and was surprised when an idea waved a flag at him. It was crazy, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He gave the genie a speculative look. "You said you can make yourself invisible?"

"Yes."

"Okay. If you insist on coming with us, you'll have to do it while invisible. And you're riding on the roof. Seto's car is a two-seater."

Atem smirked. "As you command, master." He bowed… and vanished.

Yugi almost had a heart attack when he realized that Seto might have seen Atem disappear into thin air. He shot a look at the car and was relieved to see Seto apparently absorbed in selecting a station on the radio. Taking a steadying breath, Yugi hurried down the walkway. He had more bad feelings about this than all the characters in every _Star Wars_ movie combined, but he just sighed and joined Seto in the car. "We can go now."

"About time." Seto put the car into gear with more force than was absolutely necessary. "Who is that guy, anyway?"

"I told you. He's just someone I knew in college."

"Do you always invite strange men to stay with you? What's wrong with the local hotels? Or does he have some sort of bizarre hotel phobia?"

Yugi's laugh sounded phony and forced even to his own ears. "I just didn't feel right sending him to a hotel. He's new in town and… well…" He shrugged. "You know how I am."

"Oh, yes. Friendship _uber alles_." Seto rolled his eyes. "Couldn't your 'old buddy' darken Gardener's doorstep instead of yours? I thought she was the reigning friendship queen."

"Téa only met Atem yesterday." And it wasn't as if Yugi could ask her to put Atem up at her place, though he couldn't explain the real reasons to Seto. Deciding to ignore the slight against Téa -- really, Seto didn't get along with any of Yugi's other friends -- Yugi changed the subject. "So, you made reservations at the Domino Regal?"

"They have a four-star restaurant."

Yugi suspected that Seto had chosen the restaurant because it was located in one of the nicer hotels in Domino City. He had been getting hints that Seto wanted to take their relationship to the next level, that he hoped to convince Yugi to spend the night with him in one of the Regal's rooms. A part of Yugi wanted that, to feel that closeness with someone. A greater part of him warned that he needed more than just physical pleasure. He needed…commitment. Love.

The conversation moved onto safe topics that had nothing to do with genies or "old college buddies." Yugi kept up his side of the exchange with an effort and tried not to picture Atem, invisible and perched on top of the car. He thought about Atem's cynical take on love. The genie said that he didn't believe in love. Yugi did -- but was he really in love with Seto? He thought about it long and hard, finally coming to an unhappy conclusion as honesty compelled him to admit the answer was no. So, was it fair to go on this date, knowing Seto expected more than a simple dinner?

"We're here." Seto's voice cut into Yugi's wrestling with his conscience.

"Huh?" Yugi looked around and saw that they were in front of the hotel. "Oh. Um, Seto…" He hesitated, uncertain how to proceed. He didn't want to hurt Seto, but he had to tell him the truth. He was fine with casual dating, but their relationship couldn't go any further at this point.

"What is it? Do you need to freshen up?"

A grateful Yugi pounced on the excuse to delay the upcoming conversation. He needed to think things through and figure out a way to let Seto down easy. "Yeah, thanks. I'll just be a few minutes."

"When you're finished, have the maitre d' show you to our table."

They turned the car over to the valet and headed inside. The maitre d' pointed Yugi toward the amenities, and Seto went ahead into the dining room. Yugi had to admit there were perks to dating someone as powerful as Seto Kaiba, one of which was never having to wait for a table. After making sure Seto wasn't watching, Yugi bypassed the men's room and ducked into an out-of-the way alcove. He looked around. He appeared to be alone, but… "I know you followed me."

Atem appeared in front of him. "I'm merely obeying--"

"--the rule. Yeah, I know." Yugi rubbed at his temples. Atem had a distinct talent for giving him headaches. "Your rules are ruining my life." Or, at least, his love life. Such as it was -- which, admittedly, wasn't much.

"He's not worthy of you."

"Huh?"

"Seto Kaiba. Compared to you, he is less than crocodile dung. You deserve much better."

"Yeah? Well, in case you haven't noticed, suitable candidates aren't exactly beating down my door." Yugi shoved his drooping bangs out of his eyes. He conveniently forgot he'd been thinking along similar lines. Oh, not that he was too good for Seto -- despite his faults, Seto was, underneath it all, a good man. Rather, Yugi had realized that he wanted more than Seto was offering him. Casual sex was not enough. However, it rankled to have the genie trying to dictate Yugi's love life. "Besides, who I date is none of your business."

"It _is_ my business," Atem argued. "You are my master."

"Well, I can take care of that!" Yugi concentrated until a token appeared in his hand. "I wish I'd never met you. I wish you'd go back to wherever you came from. No more genies for me, okay? Good-bye!"

Atem folded his arms and refused to take the token Yugi tried to foist on him. The amused look on his face sent Yugi's blood-pressure through the roof.

"Why the hell are you still here?! Grant my wish, damn it!"

"You cannot wish away your genie, master. It is not in your best interest."

"Tell that to my blood-pressure!" Yugi slumped against the nearest wall. "Okay. Have it your way. I wish for a new car, a houseful of new furniture, and a fancy mansion to put it all in." The other two tokens appeared in his hand. He waved them at the genie. "There. Three wishes. Grant 'em and hit the road. Better luck with your next master."

The genie ignored the tokens. "He plans to seduce you tonight, you know. That's why he chose a restaurant located inside a hotel."

"How dumb do I look? I know what he's planning!" Yugi threw up his hands. "Maybe I _want_ to be seduced. Did you ever think of that?"

From the look on Atem's face, it was clear he hadn't. He gave Yugi a confused glare. "Why would you want _him_ to seduce you? You are beautiful, intelligent, kind, and generous. You could have anyone you want! So, why would you settle for crocodile dung?!"

"I… didn't think you even liked me."

"I didn't say that I did." The warmth in Atem's eyes and the twitching of his lips belied his words.

Yugi shook his head. He turned to go and find Seto, then paused. "Atem… Why didn't you grant my wishes?"

"You like your car, you don't care about your furniture, and you'd hate living in a fancy mansion."

"Guess you know me pretty well, after all." Yugi ducked his head, peeking up at Atem through his bangs.

"Oh, I don't know." Atem's voice was soft. "You continue to surprise me."

Silence stretched between them, warm and full of potential. Then Yugi sighed. "I have to go tell Seto I'm going home."

Atem smiled.

When Yugi headed back into the restaurant's main dining area, Atem fell into step beside him. Yugi glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. "Remember, Seto mustn't see you."

"Alakazam."

The invisible genie keeping pace, Yugi went to find his date.

---------------------

Not wanting to have a confrontation inside the crowded restaurant, Yugi convinced Seto to accompany him out onto the terrace. There, wrought iron tables sat on the stone flagging. Wide steps led down to a path that disappeared between double rows of topiaries into a formal garden. Several of the tables held diners, so Yugi started down the steps and into the garden, seeking a private spot for their conversation.

"Well," Seto said, taking Yugi's arm to assist him down the steps. "This is… romantic."

_Oops_. Not exactly the impression Yugi was going for. Maybe the gardens weren't the appropriate setting for what was to come, but it was the best Yugi could manage. Safe on even ground again, he gently pulled free of Seto's grasp. "Um, I guess."

"You don't think so?"

"Well, I… Um. Seto, we… need to talk."

"That's never a good thing to hear." Seto stopped walking and fixed Yugi with a wary look. "Does this have anything to do with that Atem guy?"

"No, not really." Maybe Atem had made Yugi consider his own actions, but the decision was Yugi's. He'd finally realized he needed to be true to himself. No matter how lonely he might be, he couldn't settle for sex without love. "I made a mistake, Seto, and I'm sorry. I know you had special plans for tonight, but I… can't."

"Something better come up?" Seto sneered. "Something named _Atem_, maybe?"

"No! It's not like that. I just--"

"You 'just' what? Decided I wasn't good enough for you? When did this happen -- on the ride over? I was plenty good enough when you needed someone to stand up for you with the board of regents."

Yugi flinched at the accusations. He hadn't wanted to hurt Seto, but clearly he had, and now Seto was lashing out at him in retaliation. "You've been a good friend," Yugi said. "You've been there for me since last summer, and your support has meant a great deal to me."

"But--?" Seto snarled.

"But… I'm not in love with you."

Silence stretched taut between them. Then--

Seto laughed. It was a nasty sound, cold and cruel. Mocking. "And you think that matters to me? As if."

"But--"

"Did you really think that someone like me could ever fall in love with a _cripple_ like you?"

The words stabbed at Yugi like a knife. In them, he heard echoes of every schoolyard taunt from his childhood. He shivered. While he wasn't in love with Seto, he had considered him a friend. That Seto would say something like that to him hurt more than Yugi had thought possible.

"Don't flatter yourself, Mutou." From his superior height, Seto sneered down at Yugi. "You were a convenient amusement, nothing more. Enjoy your cab ride home."

With that, Seto turned on his heel and stalked away, head high. Yugi clenched his hands at his side and tried to breathe past the tightness in his chest. Finally, he sighed. "…That went well."

"You know--" Atem materialized, his furious glare boring a hole in Seto's departing back. "--revenge is a direct benefit."

Yugi blinked at him. "…Huh?"

"Say the word and that bastard will never insult you -- or anyone else -- ever again."

Had Atem just offered to _off_ Seto Kaiba? Yugi gaped at him. "Let me get this straight. You aren't willing to let me _date_ him, but you're perfectly willing to _kill_ him? You really _aren't_ human, are you?"

What might have been hurt flashed over Atem's face almost too fast for Yugi to see it. Then Atem's expression settled into a cold mask. "I never claimed to be."

No. No, he hadn't. In fact, he'd been pretty adamant about the whole genie thing from the beginning. Yugi shook his head. His leg was throbbing, his head ached, and he felt a little nauseous. All he wanted to do now was go to sleep and forget this night ever happened. He looked around. No one was in sight. "Take me home, Atem."

"…Alakazam."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Yugi had hoped to have some time alone to think and process everything that had happened tonight. It seemed that Atem had other ideas.

Atem dogged a silent Yugi's progress up the stairs. "You're better off without him. I sensed cruelty and darkness in his heart when I shook his hand. He wanted to use you--"

"He was angry, upset. I'm sure he didn't mean those things he said."

"He meant them," Atem growled and stepped in front of Yugi, forcing him to stop. "You deserve so much better."

"You keep saying that. But I don't see anyone lined up to take his place. Do you?" A hard shove sent Atem stumbling back a step so that Yugi could scoot around him and flee down the hall to the bedroom. "Just leave me alone!"

Yugi slammed the bedroom door with as much as force as he could manage, nearly flattening Atem's nose in the process. It was strangely satisfying, though Yugi knew from recent experience that a closed door was no deterrent to a determined genie. Maybe, he thought as he flung himself onto the bed and buried his head under his pillow, just this once, Atem would take the hint.

---------------------

Atem yelped when the door almost slammed shut on his nose. He rubbed the offended bit of his anatomy and glared at the closed door. He could sense Yugi's anger, confusion, and hurt even through the barrier between them. It made Atem even more furious with Seto Kaiba.

How dare that puffed-up piece of dung treat Yugi so callously? Seto wasn't good enough to kiss the ground at Yugi's feet, much less have him for a lover. Atem seethed at the very idea. He began to pace in front of the door, with each step conjuring up a new mental image of what he would like to do to Seto. The newt option was too good for the likes of him. Maybe a slug…

A faint noise from inside Yugi's bedroom snapped Atem's attention fully back to his master's plight. Atem's shoulders sagged as he admitted to himself that he bore at least partial responsibility for Yugi's agitation. If not for the rules imposed upon him by the curse, Atem would not have caused Yugi so much grief. Obligation demanded Atem serve, gratify, not disappoint. So far, all he had done was upset and embarrass Yugi, and hurt him when his unselfish wishes had to go unfulfilled.

Atem raked a hand through his hair. What had he done? He had allowed his -- admit it! -- jealousy to take control of him, and he'd used the rules that governed his actions as an excuse to keep Yugi from Seto's arms. And now Yugi thought Atem was some kind of monster. Atem didn't blame him. Maybe Yugi was right and Atem _had_ lost the last of his humanity. Maybe there was nothing left in him of the man he had been.

He tugged at his hair until it hurt. Maybe he ought to stop feeling sorry for himself and find a way to make it up to Yugi.

Pressing his forehead against the closed door, Atem called softly, "Yugi?"

"Go! Away!"

Atem sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "Yugi… I just want to talk to you."

"Well,_ I _don't want to talk to _you_."

"Yugi--"

"Just… leave me alone."

The defeat in Yugi's voice nearly broke Atem. He sagged against the door, finding it hard to swallow past the sudden tightness in his throat. In all his years of servitude, no one had ever made him feel like this. He pressed both hands to the wooden panel of the door. He could have magicked the door away or transported himself to the other side of it, but he didn't. To do so would only upset Yugi more and that was something Atem was determined not to do.

"Yugi, _please_." The word did not come easy to him, but he said it -- for Yugi. "Please, listen to me. I never meant to hurt you."

Soft sounds -- the rustle of fabric and the shuffle of bare feet on carpet -- indicated Yugi was moving around the room. The door cracked open and too-bright, blue eyes peered suspiciously at him.

"Okay." Yugi's voice was hushed, subdued. "Talk."

---------------------

Yugi wasn't sure what it was that made him open the door. Perhaps it was the genuine contrition he heard in Atem's voice. Whatever it was, once he'd seen the look in Atem's eyes, he couldn't hold onto his anger any longer.

"Okay," he said wearily. "Talk."

"Yugi, I--" Atem faltered. Yugi had never seen the genie look so unsure of himself. When he reached out to take one of Yugi's hands in his, Yugi let him. "I'm sorry."

The simple apology hung in the silence between them, suspended on Atem's held breath. Staring into Atem's eyes, Yugi gauged the genie's sincerity. He meant it. That much was clear in every taut line of his body. Finally, Yugi gave a tiny nod.

"All right. I forgive you." Gently, Yugi pulled his hand from Atem's grasp. "Now, go away and let me get some rest." He was exhausted, though he didn't think he'd get any actual sleep tonight. There were too many confused emotions churning in his head for that.

Atem stopped him from shutting the door between them again. "Wait! Please. Let me show you something, first?"

A sigh, then a resigned nod. "Fine. What is it?"

Atem drew Yugi out into the hallway. "…Alakazam."

------------------

Where the hallway had been, now stretched the open courtyard of a Roman villa. Overhead, faint stars sprinkled a sky just darkening to twilight. A warm breeze carried with it the scent of bougainvillea and the salty tang of the sea. From the distance came the soft susurration of waves lapping at the shore.

Yugi turned and ran a wide-eyed gaze over Atem, who could tell Yugi was surprised to find Atem dressed in a black silk suit instead of his former leather. A quick glance down showed Yugi that he was similarly attired. "_How_--?"

"Genie."

"…Right."

"Come." Atem took Yugi's hand in his and gently led him across the courtyard. "Let me show you."

Atem had based his recreation of the villa on one belonging to a past master who had been a general in Herculaneum. Atem no longer remembered the general's name or his face, but he thought he recalled enough details about the man's villa to make Yugi happy. As his master exclaimed over the painted marble statues in their niches and the tile mosaics decorating the covered walkway along the edge of the courtyard, Atem decided he had succeeded.

"This is incredible." Yugi smiled at him. "But… Why did you do this?"

"I thought a classical archaeologist such as yourself would enjoy a setting like this one." Atem gestured to their surroundings. "Besides, you haven't had your dinner, yet."

"What are you--?"

Atem placed his hands on Yugi's shoulders and turned him to face a previously unnoticed archway. Through it, a terrace with a table set for one was visible.

"Oh," Yugi said.

Atem escorted Yugi to the table and bowed him to his seat. A glass of wine materialized on the table in front of Yugi, along with an array of delicacies. As the moon rose over the horizon, silvering the waves just visible on the shore below them, lamps set in tall stands around the terrace sprang to life. The lamplight flattered Yugi, Atem thought, admiring the way the soft light played on his master's hair and fair skin.

Turning his gaze from the tempting sight, Atem bowed again and prepared to fade into the shadows while Yugi dined. "I hope everything is to your satisfaction, master." He began to back away.

Yugi's sigh pinned him in place. "Not quite."

Anxious to see what he had done wrong, Atem cast a quick look around. What had he overlooked? He wanted everything to be perfect for Yugi. "Master? What is missing?"

"A dinner companion." Yugi looked at him, a faint smile curving his mouth. "Join me?"

Surprised but pleased, Atem conjured a second chair and place setting. As he took his seat across the small table from his master, he said, "I am honored to be your dinner companion. Thank you for the invitation."

"You sound surprised?" Yugi made it a question.

"I did not think you would care for my company." Atem pretended to be absorbed in choosing a delicacy to sample first. "I… You have every right to be angry with me."

Yugi sighed and set his own fork aside. "Atem--"

"I regret that my actions caused you pain."

"You…" Yugi's head lowered so that his bangs hid his eyes. "You were just doing what genies do. Right? Your rules and all."

"Even so…" Atem toyed with a mushroom. "I am sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. Not really." Yugi raised his head. Their gazes met and held. Yugi shook his head and gave a self-deprecating little laugh. "I don't know why I thought your rules wouldn't apply just because I had a date. You've told me enough times that you can't control the rules, that you have to obey them. I guess I just didn't want to believe you when it wasn't convenient for me."

"If I could change things--"

"No." Iris-blue eyes flickered to the side as high color flooded Yugi's cheeks. "I could've handled things better, but maybe it was for the best. I wasn't being fair to Seto. I told myself that I could fall in love with him if I tried hard enough -- because I was lonely and it seemed to be what he wanted. But, it was wrong of me to think that. He needs someone who can love him for who he his, not who they need him to be."

Atem reached across the table and brushed the back of Yugi's hand with gentle fingertips. "And you deserve someone who loves _you_ for _you_, just as you are." Which was, in Atem's opinion, damned near perfect.

The silence rested easily between them until Yugi broke it with a little chuckle. When Atem raised a questioning brow, Yugi said, "At least Téa will be happy about all this. She's been after me to dump Seto for -- well, since we started going out, really."

"Why _did_ you start dating him?"

"After what happened last summer, he -- he was there when I need someone. He defended me, helped me keep my job when the regents wanted me gone. We were friends first. I... guess I should've kept it to that, but I was... selfish. I wanted..." He shook his head, falling silent.

Atem studied Yugi's face, hesitating as he considered broaching what he knew to be a touchy subject. Finally, he decided he had to ask. "Yugi… What happened in Sagalassos?"

This time, the silence wasn't as comfortable as before. Yugi chewed a bite of perfectly prepared steak and squashed a potato into pulp with his fork. Finally, he said, "I'll tell you. But not tonight. I just want to enjoy this, tonight. Okay?"

Atem nodded. He wanted to know what had happened last summer since it was obvious that whatever it was still troubled Yugi. But he had created this villa and this dinner to take Yugi's mind off his troubles, not force him to dwell on them. "Eat your dinner, master."

"Are you _ever_ going to stop calling me that?"

"It's the--"

"--rule, I know." Yugi pulled a face at him. Then a speculative look came into his eyes. "Were you really a prince?"

It was difficult not to withdraw into his usual stoicism, but Atem forced himself not to. He fixed his gaze on the distant, moonlit waves. "I was."

"Tell me?"

Atem suppressed a shiver. He didn't like remembering his past, but could refuse Yugi nothing it was within his power to grant. Not even this. Especially not this, when Yugi used that soft, hopeful tone.

"My father was the Horus Akhnemkhanen. I was the only son of his body with my mother, the Great Royal Wife." His voice lost some of its stiff formality as he added, "She died when I was born. My nurse, Neferu, raised me. When I was sixteen, Pharaoh named me his heir. At eighteen, he placed me at the head of the regiment of Amun. I was days short of my twentieth year when my brother ambushed my war band in the desert and captured me."

Yugi's hand closed around Atem's. "Your brother… He was the white-haired man in the movie -- uh, I mean, in your memory?"

"Yes. His name was Bakura. He was my half-brother, by one of Pharaoh's lesser wives." That distinction had never meant anything to Atem. It still hurt him to realize how much it had meant to Bakura.

"He was the one who made you a genie?"

This time, the shiver escaped. Yugi must have felt it run through Atem's body because he laced their fingers together in a comforting gesture. Atem gave Yugi's hand a grateful squeeze. "It was Bakura's spell that did this to me, yes. Though, I don't think he intended for things to turn out this way."

Bakura had intended to kill him and damn his soul, barring Atem from the afterlife while Bakura took his stolen body and used it against their father. He had planned to murder the Pharaoh and take the Double Crown for himself. Instead, he had cursed Atem to this unlife of servitude. The spell Bakura cast must have backfired somehow, binding Bakura's magic to Atem, rather than simply transferring it to his soulless body. As for what else had gone wrong so that he ended up a creature of magic, Atem did not know. Nor did he know Bakura's ultimate fate. Atem could only hope it had been unpleasant.

Yugi's voice called him back from his dark memories. "Atem?"

"What else do you wish to know?"

"Are there others like you? Other genies?"

"No, not like me." Atem knew that as surely as he knew the rules which governed him. "I am alone."

"And trapped…" Yugi whispered. Somehow, they had drifted closer, so that their knees pressed tight against one another beneath the table. "You don't live in the puzzle, you told me that. So, where do you go when you're between masters?"

Atem hadn't expected Yugi to ask that. No one had ever cared what happened to him when he wasn't serving them. No one except Yugi. "It is… difficult to express in words. It's like being trapped in a shadow. I am aware of the world outside, but only as if it were a dream. I dream history as it happens."

Yugi's brows drew together in a thoughtful frown. "You mentioned another realm -- a shadow realm -- once before. I got the feeling I was missing something then, and it's even stronger now. What am I not seeing?"

"In the dream state, the shadow realm… there is no sensation. I may see and hear, though as if through a veil, but I cannot touch or taste or smell. It's as if I am but a ghost, unable to interact with anything around me. I cannot move of my volition. I can do nothing but absorb the information the magic imparts to me. I learn, but do not experience. Memory fades to nothing, and less than nothing. Time passes, but I have no sense of it. I feel neither pain nor pleasure -- I feel nothing at all, for I cannot. It is as if I have no body there, only a mind, a spirit, and that spirit is never allowed to rest."

Eyes wide in a face gone pale with horror, Yugi stared at him. "That sounds more like a nightmare than a dream."

"It would, I think, be tolerable if it were all I knew. But each new master who solves the puzzle summons me back to this world. For a short time, usually only a few hours at the most, I am reminded of all that I have lost, all that is denied me -- all the vibrancy and texture of life." Atem tilted his head back and took a deep breath of the night air, catching the sweet scent of the flowers and the salt of the sea. The warm Mediterranean breeze wrapped around him like silk, and Yugi's hand was a reassuring weight in his own.

Atem let those things, and the taste of the wine and the food lingering on his tongue, anchor him as he continued. "Returning to that other place is agony. I vow to remember -- the scent of a rose in bloom or wood smoke or fresh-baked bread. I tell myself that this time will be different, that I cannot possibly forget the crunch of snow beneath my feet or the taste of honey on my tongue. How could I not recall the touch of the sun's warmth on my face or a child's laughter or even just the feel of someone's hand in mine?"

He lifted Yugi's hand, gazing at their interlaced fingers as if it were the most precious sight in the world. It was a treasure, one he no longer took for granted, one he longed to keep forever. "But, always I am proved wrong. Memory is a fragile, fickle thing in the shadow realm, and none more so than the memory of touch. All-too-soon, I forget everything I had sworn to hold dear. The sensations evaporate like mist, leaving me with only the memory of memory."

"It sounds like torture." Yugi shuddered. "Isn't there some way to force Bakura to free you?"

"Bakura is dead. He's been dead for thousands of years." In Atem's fondest dreams, he pictured Ammut devouring the bastard's soul.

"Well, that's not fair! Shouldn't his death have released you from his spell? I mean, if he's dead, who makes all these stupid rules?"

"The rules… are. The first time I was summoned, I simply knew what I had to do. Just as I knew my master's name and that I was bound to serve him." Atem stroked the back of Yugi's hand, marveling at the smooth texture, wishing he could store the sensation to comfort him when the shadow realm reclaimed him. "I have learned new rules, with you."

A rueful smile twitched at Yugi's lips. "Do I want to know?"

"I don't know. Do you?" Atem teased. At Yugi's nod, Atem chuckled. "I have learned that I must sleep."

"You took a cat nap!"

"I never before knew I could eat without feeling sated."

"You mean you learned you have hollow legs." Yugi grinned, then ducked his head and cast a suddenly shy look up through his bangs. "Do… do you know how long you can stay? Is there a rule for that, too?"

"There may be. The question has never come up before." Atem tipped Yugi's chin up so that they were eye-to-eye. "I will know if a new rule emerges. I will feel… an inner pressure." A pressure that would turn to pain if he did not obey its demands. He didn't think Yugi needed to know that, though. "Have I answered your question to your satisfaction?"

Yugi nodded. "No wonder you thought I was an idiot for suggesting you sleep in the puzzle."

"It _was_ odd." Atem smiled. "An idea as unique as everything else about you."

Yugi pretended to pout, and it was all Atem could do not to lean over and capture that oh-so-tempting, protruding lower lip between his own. "No one ever made that suggestion before?"

"No one ever allowed me to remain in the physical world long enough for it to matter where -- or if -- I slept." Atem trailed the tip of one finger along Yugi's jawline. "People were much more willing to accept a genie than you seem to be in this day and age. There were fewer questions." And most of those had centered on what Atem could do for them. No one had ever asked about his needs or wants. No one but Yugi.

Yugi's laugh was a bit breathless and he leaned into Atem's touch. "You can't blame me for that. I never dreamed anything like this could happen to me. I certainly never believed that there was such a thing as a real genie."

Atem pressed Yugi's hand over his heart. "I am real."

------------------

_That you are_. Yugi let his fingers curl into the fabric of Atem's shirt. Beneath his fingertips, Atem's heart beat a strong rhythm, and the warmth of his body seemed to permeate Yugi through even that small contact between them. An electric tingle started in his fingers and spread through-out the rest of his body.

_Oh, yes_. _Atem was_ very _real_.

Slowly, Yugi drew his hand away. The loss of Atem's heat made him shiver. He swallowed hard and cast around for something non-incriminating to say. He couldn't let Atem know how much just his nearness affected Yugi. "This was great. Thank you… for everything."

"Thank _you_." Atem smiled at Yugi's confused look. "For your forgiveness."

Embarrassed by the intensity of those mahogany eyes, Yugi rose and went to stand near the marble balustrade edging the open terrace. The breeze toyed with his hair as he stared out over the sea. He pressed his hands to the cool stone and tried to calm his racing pulse. He tensed when Atem glided up behind him.

"Master?"

"Please don't call me that." The words were barely a whisper. Yugi shivered at the heat he could feel radiating against his back. When Atem's arms wrapped around him and pulled him gently back against a warm, broad chest, he sighed. "_Atem_."

Unable to resist any longer, Yugi turned and pressed their bodies together. He slid his hands into Atem's hair, guiding his lips down to meet Yugi's mouth. Atem trembled, arms tightening, crushing Yugi to him. Their kiss was fierce and somehow desperate. When they parted, both gasping for breath, Yugi wound his arms around Atem and held on tight, unwilling to let go.

"Yugi?" Atem's breath whispered a caress along Yugi's cheek as he nuzzled Yugi's hair. His hands traced a burning path down Yugi's back, molding them even tighter together. "Please, master, tell me what you want."

_Master_. The word hit Yugi like a dousing of ice water. Atem was only doing this because Yugi was his master. Of course. Bitter laughter welled up inside him. Yugi almost choked on it, knowing that if he let it out, it would turn to something else. How could he have thought, even for a moment, that someone like Atem could want him? Selfish, awkward and, with his damaged leg...

Seto's parting words echoed cruelly in Yugi's ears. _Did you really think that someone like me could ever fall in love with a cripple like you?_ And if Seto couldn't, why would Atem?

Yugi tried to shove Atem away, but the genie held him. "Let me go!"

Instantly, the genie released him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm… tired." The defeat in his voice surprised even Yugi. Wishing he had his cane, he limped across the terrace. In an instant, the scenery rippled and became his familiar hall. He steadied himself against one wall, exhaustion washing over him. He hadn't lied. He _was_ tired -- mentally, emotionally, and physically. Tired of trying so hard, tired of getting his hopes crushed. Tired of being alone. Tired of wanting something he could never have.

"Yugi?" Atem stopped inches away, but didn't try to touch him again. "Whatever I did wrong, I am sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong." Yugi forced the words past the obstruction in his throat. His fingers dug into the frame of the bedroom door beside him. Atem was just being a good genie, trying to please his master, no matter how he really felt. Yugi told himself he couldn't hold it against Atem for obeying the damned genie rules. "Thanks for dinner. I'm going to bed now."

When the genie attempted to follow him into the bedroom, Yugi held up a hand. "I'm sorry, but I… I need to be alone right now. Please."

"… Very well." Atem reached past him and, when Yugi had stepped clear of the doorway, pulled the door closed between them. His voice reached Yugi clearly, even through the wooden barrier. "Good-night, master."

Atem's voice was soft, and Yugi found it too easy to pretend he heard disappointment in those words. _Yeah, right. Tell yourself another one, Yugi. He's only worried that he's not doing his job_. Soon enough, Yugi would make his three wishes and his genie would disappear forever. It came as something of a shock how much that thought hurt.

Mind shying away from the knowledge that his time with Atem was limited, Yugi undressed and climbed into bed. No one had ever made him feel this way before. Yugi knew he would compare all future men in his life to Atem -- and none would be the genie's equal.

As Yugi drifted into uneasy dreams, one thought chased itself in circles through his mind:

Life without Atem was going to _suck_.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: Edited to replace the scene breaks (for this chapter only, so far). Please note that the "repeated" scene is not a mistake. One version shows the action from Yugi's point-of-view; the second shows the same action from Atem's. Only the dialogue is the same. The internal monologues, which reveal the motivations of the characters and the way they interpret the other's actions and words, are very different. If you are only reading one version, you are missing an important part of the story.

* * *

Chapter 11

Alone in the hallway, Atem sank slowly to the floor, his back pressed against the closed door to Yugi's bedroom. He was such an _idiot_. Why had he kissed Yugi? His master wasn't interested in bedding him or he would have taken what Atem had so freely offered. And Yugi certainly didn't need Atem forcing unwanted attentions upon him, especially since Yugi was still dealing with the aftermath of breaking things off with Seto Kaiba. Perhaps Yugi had hoped Atem could make him forget what had happened with Seto, only to find the genie's touch too repulsive to continue.

Atem thumped the back of his head against the door, in the vague hope of knocking some sense into his brain. _Idiot_. Why would someone like Yugi want a _thing_ like him? Atem wasn't even human anymore. No wonder Yugi found his touch abhorrent. No wonder he had pushed Atem away.

Burying his face in his hands, Atem slumped forward, curling in on himself as he prepared to spend the night sitting on the hard wood floor outside Yugi's door. That was where he belonged. Yugi's kindness had made Atem forget his proper place, but he wouldn't fall for that trap again.

From now on, he would remember he was nothing but a thing that granted wishes, a tool for his master's use. And no one could love a tool.

-o-

Yugi spent a restless night. He awoke in a foul mood which the discovery that he had forgotten to buy coffee on his last trip to the store did nothing to improve. Neither did a certain genie's sulking. Atem had apparently spent most of the night on the floor outside Yugi's bedroom door. Yugi was sure the genie could have magicked up a bed or hammock or something, but instead he had chosen to be a martyr to his own stubbornness. They had barely spoken two words to one another all morning, and Atem had not offered to fix Yugi's java deficit, leaving Yugi caffeine-deprived and cranky. A sort of armed truce existed between them, with wariness lurking in both their eyes.

Edgy, under-caffeinated, and tense, Yugi fumbled the stack of papers he was transferring from his briefcase to his desk in the guestroom-_cum_-study. He lost his grip, and papers scattered everywhere like a flurry of giant snowflakes.

"That is _it_!" Yugi ripped off his glasses and flung them onto his cluttered desk. Too wound up to bother with his contacts, he'd worn his wire-rimmed reading glasses as he sorted through the papers. He massaged his temples and growled at the mess he'd made. He wasn't getting any work done, only making more for himself. He shot a glance at the genie lounging on the window seat like a great, surly cat.

"Come on." Yugi grabbed his cane and levered himself to his feet. "We're getting some fresh air."

The genie gave him a disinterested look that somehow failed to hide the hurt in his eyes as he bowed. "As you command, my master."

Yugi gritted his teeth. He was not going to lose his temper again. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he counted to ten. He had to do something about the tension between them before one of them exploded. Maybe Atem would lose the attitude if Yugi apologized. "I'm sorry I made you sleep in the hall last night."

"You need not trouble yourself with such trivial matters." Atem's disdain was magnificent, but didn't fool Yugi for a minute. "I am, after all, but a slave."

Yugi's guilt made him defensive. "You could have magicked up a bed!"

"I feared to displease my master further." Another, deeper bow accompanied the dig. Those bows were like salt rubbed on the raw surface of Yugi's guilt. "I am here to serve you, but - as you have made crystal clear - I have failed at every turn."

Atem was better at the guilt thing than Joey's mom and Téa, both rolled into one. Yugi slumped against the desk. "You haven't failed. I know you tried to grant my wish to heal Professor Hawkins. I'm sorry I yelled at you for that. And… I know you had to follow your rules last night. It wasn't fair of me to get mad at you for something you have no control over."

Atem merely looked at him.

Yugi ducked his head. "And… I'm sorry for running out on you. It was… nice. The dinner, I mean. I just… Well, you know."

"No, master, I do not. I am a genie, not a mind reader."

Yugi cringed. How could he explain that the reason he had run was that he had felt himself falling for Atem and had realized it could only lead to heartbreak? He couldn't, not without making a fool of himself. Stalling, he said, "I thought you knew all about me."

"When you solved the puzzle, in the moment before the shadows released me, I saw a brief flash of your life, in broad strokes. I knew you were orphaned as a teenager. I knew you were a teacher of archaeology at the university. I understood an accident of birth had left you feeling crippled."

Yugi gave him a subdued variation on the Look.

"I didn't call you crippled, master. I said that is the way you sometimes feel."

Honesty forced Yugi to concede the point. He gave an uncomfortable nod and a shrug. "Yeah, okay. Sometimes."

Atem accepted the capitulation graciously. "The point I wish to make is that I do not know the minutia of your life unless you choose to share it with me. I've never before _needed_ to know more than the broad strokes of a master's life, and I've never _wanted_ to know more. It never mattered to me what a master felt. Until you."

As if the words were on a direct circuit to his blush, Yugi felt his face heat up. "I'm stronger than I look, you know. You don't have to worry so much about… coddling me or whatever. Just because I sometimes - _sometimes_ - feel a little… less than optimal. I'm not weak!"

"_Yugi_-" Atem's eyes widened in what looked like shock. "I've never known anyone as strong as you! You have an inner strength and a kindness of spirit that astonish me. I would never call you weak."

"…Oh." Yugi stared at him. "I'm… sorry. I guess I… misunderstood."

"No, don't apologize. The fault is mine, not yours."

The stiffness was back in Atem's voice. Yugi stalked over to the window seat. Since the genie was seated, for once Yugi was the proper height to get right in his face. "Don't give me that 'the master is always right' tone. You know good and damn well that I'm wrong. You're just saying otherwise because you think you have to - and I hate it when you do that!"

"Forgive me for displeasing you. Again."

"Argh!" Yugi thought about yelling some more, decided he was far too under-caffeinated to deal with this right now, and slumped to the floor. He cursed the dearth of coffee plaguing his house and clutched at his hair.

After a moment, the tense silence was broken by the sound of Atem sliding from the window seat to settle on the floor next to Yugi. A heavenly aroma wafted over to Yugi's nose. Tilting his head just enough so he could peer out from beneath his bangs, Yugi spotted the steaming mug Atem was offering him.

Yugi took the mug and sipped. Nectar of the gods rolled over his tongue - hot and sweet, just the way he liked it. As a peace-offering, it was better than any olive branch. Some of the tension melted out of his shoulders. He took another long swallow, nearly draining the mug. _Blessed coffee_. He thought about what had just happened and gave a little chuckle.

"What?" Atem demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing. I -" Yugi shook his head. He had gotten angry at Atem for acting like a genie, which made as much sense as blaming the sun for being warm. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You were just… being a genie, doing what genies do."

To Yugi's surprise, Atem's face relaxed, losing its mask-like stiffness. "Maybe. A little. But, this time, it probably really _is_ my fault."

Yugi rolled his eyes. One cup of coffee was not going to get him through this conversation. He swallowed the last drop in the mug - and watched it refill itself. Oh, yeah. He'd forgotten Atem's penchant for bottomless beverages. Maybe he should wish for an endless supply of fresh hot coffee? Visions of the _Sorcerer's Apprentice_ flashed through his head, and of himself, bailing frantically as waves of coffee tried to drown him. Okay, not such a good idea. He forced himself to concentrate on the conversation. "Um. What were you saying?"

Atem offered him a faint, oddly shy smile. "I think my communication skills are a bit rusty. It's been thousands of years since I've had to do more than grant wishes and return to the shadows. Honestly, I have forgotten much about human emotions and interacting with another person beyond the master-genie relationship."

"Yeah, okay. I can understand that, I guess." Yugi had already gotten the feeling that Atem was unused to anyone treating him like a person rather than a living, wish-vending machine. "I've kind of jumped to a few conclusions when I shouldn't have, too. Let's stop doing that, okay?"

"Okay."

Yugi sighed and took a long drink of his coffee. His sighed again, this time with a kind of reverent satisfaction. "This is the best coffee I've ever tasted."

"I'm pleased you like it."

A quick peek at Atem showed Yugi a warmth in those mahogany eyes that seemed to indicated more than simply a genie's pleasure at fulfilling his duty. Heat suffused Yugi's cheeks as his imagination supplied another reason for that look. Knowing he was only fooling himself, Yugi let himself daydream for just a moment about what it would be like if Atem loved him.

He had never cared for casual sex. Call him girly - and Joey frequently did, which earned him headlocks from Tristan and the Glare of Death from Téa - but Yugi _liked_ the feeling of emotional commitment, _wanted_ "happily ever after." And he knew that wasn't possible with Atem, even if the genie somehow returned Yugi's feelings. When he had granted Yugi's final wish, Atem would have to return to that awful shadow place. With a last, wistful look, Yugi pushed his fantasies aside.

Well, almost. First, there was something he needed to know. "Can I ask you something?"

Wariness returned to Atem's expression, but he nodded.

"Well, I've been wondering… You never really went into any details about the wish guidelines, other than they have to be selfish. So…" Yugi fortified his resolve with a swig of java and slanted a look at Atem through the fall of his bangs. "Could I wish for someone to fall in love with me?"

"You could." Atem's voice was flat, his expression blank. "But, if you do, I suggest you phrase your wish very carefully. For example, you could say 'I wish for John Doe to fall in love with me for a specified amount of time.' Of course, you would use the object of your affection's name and whatever time-frame you choose."

"And John Doe would love me forever?"

"If you phrased it so. He would have no choice - and nothing you said or did would change it."

"Well, that's… creepy."

Atem relaxed fractionally. "Does that mean you do not intend to wish for Se- _someone_ to fall in love with you?"

"No!" Yugi punched him in the arm. "I just wondered if it was possible. I don't want anyone to love me because they _have_ to. I'd rather be loved for who I am."

"You are very wise."

Yugi flushed. Compliments made him squirm, so - time to change the subject. Fortunately, a new topic presented itself in the form of a low rumble from the general vicinity of Yugi's stomach. He had been so tense that he had skipped breakfast, and it was now coming up on noon. He glanced at Atem. "Are you hungry?"

"I don't get-" Atem paused as another rumble interrupted him. This one came not from Yugi's stomach, but his own. They both stared at his abdomen in surprise.

"Your stomach begs to disagree with you."

Atem offered Yugi a sheepish grin. "Apparently so."

"In that case, you can help me fix us some lunch." Yugi climbed to his feet, then offered Atem a hand up. "Come on."

"I could just conjure-"

"Nope!" Yugi smiled to take the sting out of the refusal. "We'll do it the old-fashioned way. I don't want to get too used to stuff just appearing whenever I want it. Besides, I'll bet you've never cooked before. Who knows? You might enjoy it."

Atem studied Yugi for a moment, a thoughtful look flashing across his handsome features. "You may be right."

Yugi had no idea what that look meant, but he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to spend some time with Atem, doing something that a normal couple might do. It occurred to Yugi that he'd never done anything like that with Seto, but he shoved the thought away. Time for self-recriminations later. For now, he wanted to enjoy however much time he might have with Atem before the magic pulled him away. Taking Atem's hand, Yugi led the way downstairs to the kitchen.

-o-

Despite Yugi's earlier assertion, Atem did use his magic to provide most of the components for the meal they cooked - Yugi _really_ needed to go to the grocery store - and, when the food was ready, Atem provided them with a place to eat it.

Yugi stood in the doorway to what used to be his dining room, his jaw intersecting with his kneecaps. Atem stuck a finger under Yugi's chin, closed his mouth for him with a gentle push, and nudged Yugi into the tree-filled garden that had replaced his dining table and chairs.

"You _did_ say you wanted to get some fresh air." Atem winked at him, then strode into the garden with a salad bowl in one hand and a basket of hot rolls in the other.

Yugi shook his head, rolled his eyes, and told himself to go with the flow. It was a nice garden, after all, and would make a perfect setting for a picnic lunch. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air that was, indeed, fresh. A small smile beginning to tug at his lips, he joined Atem, who was placing his burden down on a blanket conjured for the occasion.

Yugi eased down beside him. "This is nice."

"It was one of my favorite places when I was a boy." Atem sent him a shy, sideways glance. "It's one of the gardens at my father's palace in Men-nefer. Or, rather, what I remember of it."

Looking around again, Yugi took in the garden with fresh eyes. In spite of his childhood-and-Ishtar inspired antipathy toward all things Egyptian - a certain genie excepted - this was an archaeologist's dream come true. To see an ancient setting in its pristine condition - not a modern recreation, but the real thing (or near enough) - was something Yugi had only dreamed of. And Atem had twice granted him this privilege. The garden was secluded - from where he sat, Yugi could see the tall, white-washed walls guarding its boundaries - and filled with exotic plantings in addition to native flora. Tiny birds darted among the leaves of the Sycamore figs and the acacia trees casting shade over their picnic blanket. A cool north breeze teased the fronds of the Dom palms and brought with it the clean scent of water and water lilies from a shallow rectangular pool a short distance away.

"I can see why you liked it," Yugi said finally. "It's very peaceful."

"Yes." Atem's smile was beautiful. It took Yugi's breath away. "Thank you for allowing me to share it with you."

"I'm honored."

After exchanging tiny smiles, they settled down to eating their lunch. Yugi had decided on grilled steaks, a green salad, fresh rolls (he allowed Atem to magic those - baking was _not_ in Yugi's skill set), and iced tea, with chocolate ice cream for dessert. The menu didn't match the setting, but neither of them cared, digging into their food with healthy appetites. Ice cream was another new experience for Atem, one he delved into with enthusiastic - and vocal - appreciation. Yugi watched him eat and tried not to think about other ways of getting his genie to make those little sounds of pleasure.

When they had finished - and Atem had used his magic to tidy up - Yugi lay back on his elbows and stared up at the patches of cloudless sky visible through the leaves of their shade tree. He caught a glimpse of what he thought might be a hawk, circling on an updraft, and smiled. "This is incredible."

He glanced at Atem in time to see the upraised eyebrow.

"I mean, after all that's happened... I never thought I'd enjoy spending time in Egypt again. I used to love it, you know. When I was a little kid, I thought there wasn't anything greater than tagging along with Mom, Dad, and Grandpa on one of their expeditions. By the time I was old enough to know what was going on, they'd pretty much settled on excavating in Egypt every winter. It was the highlight of the year for me, a grand adventure..." Yugi's smile flickered and died. "After the accident, I couldn't bear the thought of going back." The thing with Ishtar had only reinforced his aversion.

Atem's posture stiffened, his expression going blank. "Forgive me, master. I did not think-"

"No!" Yugi bolted upright, determined that there not be another misunderstanding between them. "That's not what I meant at all! I'm enjoying this - and it just surprised me, that's all. You didn't do anything wrong, Atem. When I thanked you for showing me this, I meant every word."

Yugi watched as Atem slowly relaxed, though the uncertainty didn't entirely fade from his eyes. "You're sure?"

"Completely." Yugi poked at Atem's ribs. "Come on, lazy bones. Give me a tour."

Atem helped Yugi to his feet, then led him on a leisurely tour of the garden, pointing out the incense trees Atem had brought back from an expedition into the Sinai. They paused near one of the walls, and Yugi gazed up at it with a faintly wistful expression. "I wonder what the city looks like..."

"I'm sorry, master," Atem said. "But it is beyond my power to recreate even the illusion of an entire Egyptian city in your dining room. If you truly wish for this, you must use one of your tokens."

For half-a-second, Yugi found himself considering it. Then he shook his head and laughed. "No. I'd love to see Men-nefer as it was... But, no. I don't want to expend a wish on a silly whim."

"Have you something in mind, then?"

Yugi hesitated. "...Maybe. I want to think about it some more. You said the wish needs to be specific for it to work the way I want it to, and I need to think about how I should phrase it."

"Very well. If you have need of my assistance, you've only to ask."

"I may take you up on that. I'm not sure-"

The sound of a telephone ringing - incongruous in the ancient setting - startled them both. Yugi gave a sheepish chuckle. "Oops. Guess we'd better go back to my house."

"We never actually left it, master." The garden rippled like a heat mirage - and they were back in Yugi's familiar dining room. Atem smirked. "As you can see."

"I am _never_ getting used to that..." Yugi shook off the mild vertigo the transition had caused and ran to grab the nearest phone, which happened to be the one in the kitchen. "Hello?"

"You sound out of breath. Did I interrupt something?" said the last voice Yugi had expected to hear on the other end of the phone line.

His heart thudded into his toes, and he swallowed, hard. "_Seto_?"

There was such a long silence that Yugi was beginning to wonder if Seto had hung up. Then the other man spoke again. "Forget I said that. I didn't call to insult you."

"Then, why _did_ you call?"

"I..." Another lengthy pause. "I wanted to... I shouldn't have said that to you. Last night."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"I know."

Yugi waited for several more seconds before coming to the conclusion that was as close to an apology as he was likely to get. He looked up to find Atem watching him with a shuttered expression in his eyes, and wondered what his own expression must be doing to make the genie look at him like that. He sighed. "Look, Seto, I know I could have handled this all much better than I did, and I'm sorry, but this really isn't-"

Seto interrupted, blurting out the words. "I'd like for us to still be... friends."

Eyes wide, Yugi stared at the phone. Up until that moment, he would have said that the word _friend_ wasn't in Seto's working vocabulary. "Uh... I'd... I think I'd like that, too."

"Good. Because, as your friend, I have to tell you that I'm worried for your safety."

Yugi found himself staring at the phone again. "...What?"

"How much do you really know about this Atem guy, Yugi? Are you sure that he's who - and what - he says he is?"

"Now, look-"

"I'm not trying to tell you who to ...date." The word grated off Seto's tongue. "But I think you should be cautious around him until you have some proof that he is who he claims to be."

"Well, I-"

"So, I'm going to investigate his background for you." There was no mistaking the satisfaction in Seto's tone. Yugi knew he had no hope of talking Seto out of his plan of action. "I'll get back to you when I know more."

"Seto, wait!" Yugi shouted - to the dial-tone, as Seto had already disconnected. Yugi hung up the receiver with more force than absolutely necessary. "Shit!"

Atem was instantly beside him. "Master? What's wrong? What did that... person... say to upset you?"

"Oh, god. What are we going to do?" Yugi clutched at Atem's shirt. "What are we going to _do_?"

"Tell me what's wrong!" Atem demanded, grabbing Yugi's arms to stop Yugi from shaking him again. "I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

"Seto's gotten it into his head that you're some kind of danger to me or something and he's planning to have you investigated. Only, as far as the modern world is concerned, you don't exist. You have no paper trail, no history. When that comes to light..."

Atem made an abortive gesture, as if he'd started to put his arms around Yugi, then reconsidered. Yugi flinched at this obvious proof that Atem's actions before had been motivated by his duties as a genie and not any genuine attraction to or feelings for Yugi.

"What kind of 'paper trail' do I need?"

"The same kind that everyone else on the planet who isn't a genie already has - birth certificate, driver's license, immunization records, passport, job history, school records. A social security number and tax papers. Medical history, gas and water bills, overdue fines at the library... You name it, you need it!"

Atem got a far-away look in his eyes for a moment, then he nodded. "Very well. It is done."

"What is?"

"My paper trail."

"You mean you just... created one? Out of thin air?"

"Yes. It is quite extensive. Any investigation into the life of Atem Sanesu will find that he is a real - if rather boring - man, complete with utility bills and dental records."

Yugi blinked at Atem for a long moment, and then collapsed against his chest. In a muffled voice, he muttered, "I think I need more coffee."

"You need to relax, not wind yourself up more." Gently, Atem eased Yugi upright again. "Alakazam."

In the next instant, Yugi found himself in his bathroom, submerged in a spa tub that hadn't been there that morning. It came complete with bubbling jets of water, fragrant steam - and a genie kneeling on the floor beside the tub, offering a glass filled with a deep red liquid. The water felt heavenly, and Yugi could feel the tension seeping from his body, but he shook his head at the wine glass. "I don't need any alcohol right now."

"It is pomegranate juice, master. Nothing more." Atem crooked a tiny smile. "You seemed to like it."

"Oh. In that case-" Yugi accepted the offering and sipped. _Yum_. He couldn't hold back a luxurious sigh-and-stretch as the knots eased from his muscles. He would have felt uncomfortable about Atem seeing him naked, but the water was frothy enough to preserve his modesty. For several minutes, he did nothing but relax, closing his eyes and almost dissolving into the hot water.

After a time, it occurred to Yugi that this was probably the best opportunity he would ever have to recount the tale of last summer without giving himself a stroke from the stress. He steeled his resolve; it was now or never. "Um, I suppose I should tell you about Sagalassos..."

"Now?" Atem sounded surprised.

"Yeah." Yugi shifted around to get a bit more comfortable, took a sip of pomegranate juice, and handed the glass back to the genie. He took a deep breath and began. "Like most bad ideas, it seemed like a good one at the time. In fact, it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime. A man by the name of Maximillion Pegasus contacted me at the university and offered me the chance to join the expedition excavating the Roman baths at Sagalassos in Turkey. I jumped at the chance - they're uncovering some incredible finds there - but it turned out I should have looked before I leaped."

"What happened?"

"Well, for one thing, Pegasus wasn't actually connected with the official expedition - or even anything to do with Sagalassos. Unfortunately, I didn't find that out until I was in Turkey and he'd dumped me and a bunch of archaeology students in a little town on the far edge of nowhere. And I do mean dumped. The bastard stranded us there, with orders to call him only if we found anything. Considering the ruins in the area were thought to have been worked out decades ago, that didn't seem likely."

Thinking about that summer, Yugi had begun to tense up again. He rolled his neck, attempting to loosen the muscles, and winced at the pain.

"I can help, if you will allow it." The offer came in a quiet, tentative voice unlike the genie's usual confident tones.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Yugi nodded. Atem shifted so that he was behind Yugi and began kneading the taut muscles in Yugi's shoulders. It felt wonderful. Yugi bit back an appreciative groan and forced himself to continue his narrative.

"While I tried to figure out how to get out of my contract with Pegasus, I set the students to surveying the ruins. That way, they'd get some practical fieldwork experience, so the trip wasn't a total waste. We found some potshards and the remains of a mosaic floor. We'd been there a month when one of the students tripped over a pile of rubble and fell through what turned out to be the roof of a buried storeroom."

Atem made an encouraging sound, his hands working the knots out of Yugi's neck and shoulders.

"It was one of those serendipitous moments on which careers are made. Or broken." Yugi closed his eyes, concentrating on the feel of Atem's hands on his skin. Molten heat pooled behind his navel, demanding his attention, demanding he turn and catch Atem's mouth with his own. Yugi wrenched his thoughts back to his tale. "Inside the storeroom was a cache of wooden _ka_ statues in exquisite condition. We couldn't understand how they could be so well-preserved. Even the original paint was intact. It was almost like magic.

"And, of course, they were an anomaly - the ruins were Roman, located in Turkey, so why were these Egyptian statues _there_ instead of in the tomb of the man they'd been made for? No one knew, which made the find all the more exciting. Just one of those statues would have been worth a small fortune, not to mention the historical value. We found three."

"Let me guess," Atem said, his breath wafting across the nape of Yugi's neck. "Pegasus returned to take credit for the find."

"Got it in one." Yugi sighed. "Like a naïve fool, I called him the minute I realized what we'd found. And I listened when he told me not to talk to anyone until he got there. He showed up with a media entourage and played to the cameras like a pro."

"So, he got the credit for your work."

"Yeah, but that's not the worst part." Yugi squirmed as Atem's thumbs dug into a particularly tight muscle. The sudden release of painful tension nearly melted him into the water. "All three of the statues disappeared."

Atem stilled for a moment, then slowly resumed the massage. "Pegasus?"

"Maybe. If so, I can't prove it. The statues were being temporarily stored at a little museum in the nearby town when they were stolen. The press went wild - and, this time, Pegasus wasn't smiling for the cameras. He pointed the finger of suspicion at what he said was the likeliest suspect for the theft. Me."

"_You_?" The disbelief in Atem's voice warmed Yugi in a whole new way.

"Yeah, _me_. Oh, the authorities looked at a few other suspects - the museum's curator and his assistant, even Pegasus. But he had an air-tight alibi, and curator and assistant vouched for each other. Of the four of us, I was the only one without an alibi for the night of the theft. My leg had been acting up and I'd gone to bed early - unfortunately, alone, so there was no one to verify my story.

"It didn't help that plenty of people had seen my confrontation with Pegasus about his deception. They said I wanted to get back at him for not giving me more credit for my part in the discovery. That I wanted to embarrass him. They couldn't find enough evidence, even circumstantial, to charge me, but my professional reputation is ruined. The university wanted to can my ass, and they would have, if not for Seto."

"So, he really did help you?"

"He was great. He pointed out that there was no proof I'd done anything wrong, other than trust an unscrupulous man. He helped me keep my job, even if it meant I ended up getting stuck with the impossible inventory. In the process, we became friends."

Sometime after that, they'd begun dating - just casually at first, lunch dates and grabbing a coffee together on Sunday afternoons. Gradually, Seto had started dropping hints that he would like to take things further. And now they'd parted on terms that could not be considered even remotely pleasant, although it seemed as if Seto might want to change that. Yugi gave himself a mental shake and pushed those thoughts away for now.

"Unless I can clear my name, I'll never work on a legitimate dig again. No one will trust me."

"How can they think you would steal?" Atem sounded outraged on Yugi's behalf. Out of the corner of his eye, Yugi saw Atem shake his head. "The fools."

The warmth spread. "You have to admit it looks bad."

"You are no thief."

At those words, Yugi melted into Atem's touch. He didn't think about it, he just did it. It felt good. Comforting. "If I wished for it, could you restore my reputation?"

"It's a legitimate wish." Atem's deep voice rumbled in Yugi's ear, sending shivers down Yugi's spine. "I cannot alter history, so I cannot prevent the original theft. But I believe I can recover the statues and expose the real thief. You would be vindicated."

"So, you can grant my wish?"

"Yes." Atem moved again, gliding to one side so that Yugi could see him again. Yugi mourned the loss of those skilled hands on his body. "I caution you to choose your wording carefully, master. The magic tends to be literal. You must be extremely clear about what you want to happen."

Yugi nodded. He knew what he wanted - he had gotten a small taste of it during Atem's massage - but it wasn't something he would wish for. Not like that. He would never force Atem to do or feel something against his will, something that wasn't real.

"Is that your wish? For your reputation to be restored?"

"I need to think about it." Yugi sat up, looking around for a towel and a robe. "Can you give me a little more time?"

"As you wish." Atem handed him a huge, Turkish bath sheet that Yugi was certain had not come from his linen closet. A knowing look in his eyes, the genie bowed. "I will wait for you outside."

Aching from the longing roiling within him, Yugi watched Atem close the bathroom door, leaving Yugi alone - with Atem on the wrong side of the door.

-o-

Atem stared at the bathroom door separating him from his master. Somehow, he always seemed to end up relegated to the hallway. Perhaps there was something symbolic in that. Shaking his head, he paced the cramped width of the hall - two long strides across and back. He wanted to do so much for Yugi... He glanced again at the bathroom, deciding on the spot to leave it as it was. The spa tub would benefit Yugi on the days when his leg hurt him, easing his aches and pains. If only he could stay by Yugi's side... He would care for Yugi, help him when he needed it, accept his help in return. Of course, it was useless to dream. Genies _granted_ wishes; they didn't get to make them for themselves. Even if they did, would Yugi want him around?

Yugi had accepted Atem's ministrations, but that didn't mean anything, despite the spark of hope it lit in Atem's heart. Ruthlessly, he crushed it. Or, at least, tried to. But that tiny ember burned brightly, refusing to die. Instead, his memory replayed the feel of Yugi's skin beneath his hands and the sweet scent of his hair. Those tantalizing glimpses he had gotten of Yugi's bare body beneath the foam in the tub.

Biting back a groan of frustration, Atem tried to force the images away. He could not afford to indulge in fantasies about Yugi. To do so would be madness, tempting him into forgetting his place again. He couldn't allow that to happen.

No matter how much every part of him longed to make Yugi his own.

-o-

In the bathroom, Yugi stepped cautiously from the tub. It was deep and he had to brace one hand on the wall - it was then he noticed the bar fastened to the wall, in exactly the right place for him to use to balance himself. It seemed as if Atem had thought of everything.

A faint smile curved Yugi's lips as he stood on the bath mat and cocooned himself in the thick bath sheet Atem had left for him. He dried himself off and looked around for a robe. Not finding one, Yugi shrugged and wrapped the large towel around his body. It would suffice for the short walk across the hall to his bedroom.

And then he remembered the genie undoubtedly waiting for him in the hallway.

Yugi felt his entire body flush. Just thinking of Atem made him feel hot all over. Atem's touch had been so careful, so tender, that Yugi could almost believe the genie cared for him, just a little. Well, he could pretend... right?

In the hall, Atem was - as Yugi had expected - waiting for him. The genie turned as Yugi opened the door.

"Ready to make your wish?"

The only thing Yugi really wanted right now, he couldn't have. He shook his head. "I almost don't want to make any wishes."

Atem's brows drew together. "Why?"

Yugi closed the short distance between them and reached up to brush Atem's cheek. "Because, once I do, you'll have to leave. And I don't want you to go."

Not waiting to see the genie's reaction, Yugi started to turn away. His eyes burned, but he blinked away the moisture that threatened. He hadn't taken more than a step before Atem's soft voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I don't want to go."

Yugi spun and found himself practically in the other man's arms. Without letting himself stop to think, he leaned into Atem, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in Atem's chest. Yugi's towel slipped, but he only leaned in harder, trusting the press of their bodies to keep the fabric in place. He promptly forgot all about protecting his modesty as the scent of frankincense surrounded him and Atem's heat seeped into him. It felt so good to be close to Atem, to hear the heart beating in his chest, to feel the subtle tension in the hard muscles beneath the hands Yugi had pressed against Atem's back.

Atem's body was taut in his embrace, and Yugi's conscience tried to tell him this was wrong. He couldn't take advantage of the genie as Atem's previous masters had done. Yugi wouldn't put his own needs and desires ahead of what was right and fair. He would not demand Atem do something that was repulsive to him. Reluctantly, Yugi started to pull away.

Atem's arms came around him, holding him in place.

Startled, Yugi raised his head to look at him. "Atem?"

"Please." Atem's voice sounded strained. His expression was filled with too many emotions for Yugi to sort them all out. "Don't push me away."

All Yugi wanted to do was hold him closer. His heart raced at the thought that Atem might want that, too. "...What?"

His hold tightening, Atem said, "If you don't want me, tell me now and I will never touch you again unless commanded. But-"

Yugi closed his eyes as Atem's fingertips gently traced the contours of his upturned face. Atem's voice dropped to a husky whisper. "-I beg you, don't turn me away. Let me touch you, Yugi. Let me pleasure you."

As his voice trailed away, Atem's mouth brushed Yugi's. That simple contact ignited every nerve-ending in Yugi's body. He clung to Atem, suddenly determined not to let him go. Oh, how he wanted this, wanted _Atem_. But, did he dare? Could he give in to the demands of his body and still protect his vulnerable heart?

"_Please_." Atem breathed the word against Yugi's lips. His hands roamed Yugi's body, further loosening the towel, as he pressed tantalizing kisses along Yugi's neck and jaw. "Let me have this moment. _Please_. Let me have you..."

"Yes." The towel fell away, but Yugi didn't care. He opened his eyes in time to see what looked like joy light up Atem's eyes. That look sent an electric jolt all the way to Yugi's toes. He threaded his fingers through Atem's hair and tugged him down into a desperate kiss.

Atem growled. He shifted, grinding their erections together. Even through the single layer of cloth separating them, it felt incredible. Yugi gasped, instinctively thrusting against his partner. "Atem, please!"

"_Alakazam_."

With no more warning than that, Yugi found himself lying on his bed, with Atem's weight pinning him to the mattress. Atem's clothing had vanished and his skin felt like warm silk beneath Yugi's hands. Yugi stroked a hand down Atem's flank, making his lover groan and thrust against him.

"Yugi?" Atem panted, raining kisses on every part of Yugi he could reach. "Let me-?"

"Yes!" _Oh, yes_. Yugi wanted this, _needed_ it as he needed to breathe. "Atem!"

And then Atem was kissing him again, possessing his mouth, his body. Atem's hands caressed and teased, finding every spot that made Yugi's world dissolve into heat and pleasure.

And Atem.

-o-

Atem turned as Yugi, wrapped in a large towel, stepped out of the bathroom. The sight did things to Atem that he knew he couldn't let himself dwell upon. In order to take his mind from the urge to sweep Yugi into his arms, he forced himself to ask, "Ready to make your wish?"

Yugi's response stunned him. "I almost don't want to make any wishes."

What? Never had his masters been reluctant to use their wishes. Atem couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why?"

The brush of Yugi's fingertips against his cheek was like the kiss of a butterfly's wings. "Because, once I do, you'll have to leave. And I don't want you to go."

When Yugi turned away, not waiting to for his response, Atem blurted, "I don't want to go."

Suddenly, Atem found himself with his arms full of nearly-naked archaeologist. Yugi pressed close, burying his face against Atem's chest, his arms wrapping tightly around Atem's waist and pulling him closer. It took every ounce of Atem's self-control not to rip the towel (which had begun to slip in a most tantalizing manner) completely from Yugi's body, removing the flimsy barrier concealing the object of Atem's suddenly fervent desire. He dared not move - at least, not until Yugi began to withdraw. Then his arms moved of their own accord, clasping Yugi to him and preventing the man's retreat.

"Atem?"

"Please." The word escaped from Atem's lips without his permission, but he didn't take it back. As a prince, he had never begged for anything. He had never had to, as everything he had wanted was his for the taking. Now, he wanted nothing more than the love of the man in his arms. If he could not have that, he would settle for loving his body, showing Yugi with touches what he dared not put into words. That is, if Yugi would allow it. "Don't push me away."

"What?" Yugi sounded confused and a little breathless. Could it be that he did not find Atem entirely repulsive, after all? Torn between hope and fear, Atem tightened his hold.

"If you don't want me, tell me now and I will never touch you again unless commanded. But-" Atem traced Yugi's face with his fingertips, memorizing the shape and the sensation, even though he knew he was doomed to forget them once he returned to the shadows. Yugi's eyelids drifted closed beneath the gentle caress. "-I beg you, don't turn me away. Let me touch you, Yugi. Let me pleasure you."

His voice failed him and he did the only the thing he could do, brushing his mouth over Yugi's in a wordless plea. Yugi's lips were soft and slightly parted, and still tasted faintly of pomegranate juice. Emotions unlike anything Atem had felt before threatened to overwhelm him. He felt himself tremble. Fear, need, desire... hope. Other things that, in this moment, he had no words for.

"_Please_." The word was barely a whisper breathed against Yugi's lips. Atem stroked his hands along Yugi's back, loosening the towel Yugi had wrapped around himself. The sensation of skin on skin felt incredible. Needing more, Atem let his hands roam freely as he pressed tiny, adoring kisses along Yugi's neck and jaw. "Let me have this moment. _Please_. Let me have you..."

"Yes."

It took a second for Yugi's acquiescence to sink in. Then relief and happiness and something he couldn't name swept through him, and Yugi was pulling him down into the sweetest, most urgent kiss anyone had ever given him, and Atem thought his heart might burst from all the emotion welling up inside it.

And _then_ he noticed that Yugi's towel had fallen to the floor, and a very naked Yugi was pressed against the evidence of Atem's arousal - and it was _quite_ evident that Yugi did not find him repulsive _at all_.

With a growl, Atem grasped Yugi's bare hips and ground their erections together. Yugi thrust back against him and gasped, "Atem, please!"

Atem needed no more urging. "_Alakazam_."

They materialized on Yugi's bed. Atem had taken the opportunity to magic away his clothing and was thoroughly enjoying the feel of a naked Yugi, pinned beneath him on the mattress. He shivered with delight at the look in Yugi's eyes. Yugi's hands found him, stroking him and making Atem moan as he thrust against his lover. He began the delicious task of tasting every inch of Yugi within reach, barely finding the breath to plead between kisses, "Yugi? Let me?"

"Yes!" Yugi arched against him, seeming to want this as much as Atem did. "Atem!"

Atem claimed Yugi's mouth again, tasting deeply this time. He relished every gasp and moan and - with every touch and caress of his hands and lips and tongue, with every part of him - set about showing Yugi exactly how much Atem cared about him.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Yugi awoke from what a quick glance at the bedside clock assured him was a short nap to find Atem still asleep beside him. His genie lay half on top of him, face buried in the curve of Yugi's neck and shoulder, one long arm draped over Yugi's torso. For a slender guy, Atem was surprisingly heavy, but Yugi felt content with that warm weight pressing him into the mattress. Overcome by a sudden possessiveness, he wrapped his arms around Atem and thought how wonderful it would be to never let go.

Too bad he knew that was just a dream that could never come true. Once Yugi made his three wishes, Atem would leave. Maybe... Maybe if Yugi did not make any official wishes, Atem could stay? Was it possible? Atem had said he didn't want to go, and Yugi believed him. No one would want to return to that sensory-deprivation hell. But would the curse allow Atem to escape it?

Yugi heaved a sigh. The movement disturbed his genie, who groaned and rubbed his cheek against Yugi's shoulder. Yugi felt the faint rasp of stubble on his bare skin.

"Go back to sleep, Yugi."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Atem cracked open one eye and Looked at him. "You're thinking so hard I can hear the synapses firing in your brain." He pressed a sleepy kiss to Yugi's neck, nuzzling a bit as he settled more comfortably against Yugi's body. "What are you worrying about now?"

"...Nothing."

Another Look, this one featuring both eyes and the raised Eyebrow of Ultimate Skepticism.

"Okay, _fine_. I was wondering what would happen if I didn't make any wishes at all. Would you still have to go back to... that place?"

"I don't know." Atem yawned and buried his face against Yugi's neck, muffling his next words. "And, right now, I don't care. Go back to sleep."

Yugi tried, he really did, but his brain was too full of questions - about genies and wishes and what the heck was up with Seto, anyway? - and he didn't have answers for any of them. In an absent gesture, he stroked his hand up and down the length of Atem's back, enjoying the smooth, supple texture of the genie's skin beneath his palm. Atem went practically boneless under Yugi's ministrations, all but purring in pleasure at the attention.

Eventually, Yugi sat up, displacing Atem, who groaned into the pillow before rolling over to blink at him in frustration. Yugi blinked back. "What?"

"Humans are supposed to be lazy, indolent creatures. You are not acting according to the script... Not that you ever do." Atem gazed at him for another long moment, then his frown morphed into a wicked smirk that made Yugi's toes tingle. The tingling spread when Atem reached over and trailed a languid hand up Yugi's naked thigh. "Perhaps I can convince you not to get out of bed just yet?"

Atem, Yugi was almost certain, could convince him to do just about anything - up to and including attempting to fly without benefit of wings. He forced himself to scoot away from that tempting touch. Casting about for something to distract the genie, Yugi hit upon, "You need a shave."

Atem froze. "I do?" He ran his fingers over his cheeks, expression revealing his surprise at the stubble he found there. "I do! How... odd."

"You don't usually shave?"

"No more than I usually sleep or eat. I haven't needed to shave since... well, since I was a prince in Egypt." One hand still touching his cheek, Atem stared at nothing, his mind obviously thousands of miles - and years - away.

"What does it all mean?" Yugi wondered aloud. Atem either didn't hear him or chose to ignore the question. Shaking his head, Yugi leaned over and poked the genie to gain his attention. "Come on. You can shave after your shower."

"With you?" That familiar, wicked smirk made a reappearance.

Yugi matched it. "Yes."

One good thing about sex in the shower - clean up was easy. The thought put a smug little grin on Yugi's face as he finished dressing. He could hear Atem lingering under the spray, enjoying the patter of warm water on his skin. The man was such a hedonist!

Unbidden, Yugi's mind supplied him with the memory of using his tongue to chase water droplets down Atem's chest. His breath hitched and his cock twitched. Yugi's hands faltered on his buttons. Dammit, he was in so much trouble. What was he going to do when Atem was gone? Yugi wasn't sure he could go back to life without the genie.

As if summoned by the thought, arms closed gently around Yugi and tugged him back against a warm body. Despite the unhappy direction of his thoughts, he relaxed into Atem's embrace, reveling in the feel of strong arms holding him close. "You can't imagine what you've done for me."

"I haven't done anything yet." Atem nuzzled Yugi's nape. "You have to make your wish for that."

Yugi huffed out a little laugh. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Straightening, Atem turned Yugi gently in his grasp until they were face to face, and then gave him a questioning look. "Are you ready to make your first wish?"

Unable to think of a reason to postpone it any longer, Yugi nodded. "Yeah, I think so." He gazed up into Atem's warm mahogany eyes and felt his heart skip a beat. He swallowed hard and tried to force his pulse to steady. "Do we have to do anything special?"

"No." Atem leaned down and brushed his lips against Yugi's, the soft kiss destroying all of Yugi's careful efforts at calming himself. "Just state your wish. Remember - you need to be precise."

"Okay." Yugi took a deep breath and held it while he composed the wish in his head. "Okay. I think I've got it."

Holding Atem's gaze with his own, Yugi whispered, "I wish..."

* * *

Author's Note: **This story has NOT been abandoned**. I ran into some real life difficulties and have decided to complete the fic before posting new chapters to this site. You may find some snippets on my livejournal (you must request to be friended in order to read most entries) at some point, but nothing more will be posted here until the fic is finished and edited. For updates on the fic status or to get answers to questions you may have about this (or any of my other) fic, please visit my Lucidfic forum on this site. Thank you for your patience. If you're looking for a _finished_ Yami/Yugi (humorous) romance novel, check out my completed fic, _Shadows on the Nile_ (and its prequels).

Edited to add (8-7-2010): I am grieving the loss of my beloved cat on July 6. Rascal was more than "just a pet". He was my baby, a faithful companion for more than a decade, and a huge part of my life. I miss him so much... Writing fluffy romance fic is not exactly at the top of my priorities right now. I don't know when it will be again, if ever. Right now, it's all I can do to make it through the day. Thanks for understanding.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello again! As promised, I am resuming updates on this story. My birthday is this weekend, so, to celebrate, I'm posting this new chapter as a "present" to all my loyal readers who have been wonderfully patient and not given up on this story. :)

While the rough draft is more or less complete, there are still a few scenes I'm not entirely happy with and most of the remaining story is in longhand in a notebook waiting for my hands to cooperate (they're currently swollen and very painful) so that I can type the new stuff up. Therefore, don't look for a new chapter until sometime next month. The winter months are always very difficult for me since the cold exacerbates many of my symptoms and this winter has been colder than normal for where I live, making things even worse.

Since I'm going to updating as quickly as I can, I'm asking that you please don't leave "update soon!" comments. The end is in sight and we'll get there ASAP, I promise, so there's no need to nag. Thanks in advance for your understanding, and I hope that you enjoy the new chapter. As always, feedback is loved. See you next month!

ETA: Edited to fix a few typos.

* * *

Chapter 13

"I wish..." Yugi faltered, caught somewhere between sudden insecurities and Atem's expectant (and somewhat resigned) expression. The weight of the wish token, which had appeared in his hand as soon as he uttered the words, dragged at him. He had thought long and hard about how to word this wish, but what if he'd gotten it wrong?

"Master?" his genie prompted.

"Yeah, okay." Deep breath. He could do this. "I wish to recover the three _ka_ statues, along with proof that I didn't steal them, so that I can return them to their rightful owner, thus restoring my professional reputation."

The token grew hot against his palm. Startled, Yugi looked down in time to watch the token start to glow. It vanished from his hand to reappear in Atem's grasp. The token's glow became blinding before it seemed to sink into the genie's skin. Atem straightened, his entire body surrounded by a halo of golden light. The light (magic?) pulsed - once, twice - and exploded outward in a silent shockwave.

"Wow." Yugi knew he was gaping but could do nothing to stop it. "That was-"

"Exhausting." And, indeed, Atem looked weary, as if he had over-exerted himself in physical labor. Apparently, wish-granting took a great deal more effort than he had let on. "Your wish is granted, my master."

"Really?"

Sagging onto the nearest chair, Atem nodded. "Look behind you."

Yugi spun around and found himself face-to-carved-faces with a trio of identical, life-sized wooden effigies. "The missing _ka_ statues!"

"Missing no longer." An elegant wave of Atem's hand indicated a stack of documents on the coffee table. "And, in accordance with your obsession with 'paper trails', I have provided an appropriate one to go with your statues."

"I'm not obsessed with paper trails!"

"You certainly seem to be."

"I just want to be able to prove I didn't steal the statues, hide them, and then pretend to find them when I couldn't ditch them on the black market."

Atem's eyes widened and he nodded. "That actually makes sense."

"You don't have to sound so surprised. I made sense all the time before you came along." Yugi huffed before turning his attention to the stack of papers the genie had provided. Reverently, Yugi touched the topmost paper. Proof, at last, of his innocence. Knees buckling at the realization that he would soon be free of the stigma that had clung to him since the previous summer, he sank onto the sofa. He took a moment to bask in the knowledge that he could finally clear his name, before tearing his gaze from his prize and focusing on Atem. "I don't know how to thank you."

"You don't have to thank me." Atem lifted his head and met Yugi's gaze. "I'm a genie. Granting wishes is my purpose."

At those words, Yugi felt his delighted smile slide into a frown. "Don't talk about yourself like that."

"Like what?" Atem's brows drew together in apparent confusion.

"Like you're a, a _tool_ instead of a person." Yugi scowled at him. "You may not be entirely human, but you're not a _thing_. Whatever else you may be, you're still a man. Don't ever forget that."

Atem's lips twitched and, when he spoke, his voice was deeper, more seductive. "Feel free to remind me as often as you like."

Heat flashed up Yugi's neck and into his cheeks. Damn his over-developed blush reflex! "Is that all you think about? Storing up physical sensations?"

Yugi meant it to be teasing, but Atem's eyes narrowed. "Is that what you think I'm doing with you?"

"Well, sure." Yugi stared at his hands, fidgeting in his lap. "It's not a bad thing. I guess it's sort of nice, that I can provide that for you."

He didn't look up, but he heard the shifting of fabric against fabric as Atem rose from the chair and the scuff of his feet on the rug as he shuffled over to join Yugi. The sofa cushions dipped as the genie settled beside him.

"Yugi..." Atem's voice was gentle, as was the hand which cupped Yugi's cheek and tipped his head so that he had little choice but to look at Atem. "I would never use you like that."

"But-"

"No. No 'buts." Atem's long fingers traced a line from Yugi's cheekbone, along his jawline, and down to the rapid pulse below his ear. "You are no mere bed partner, and you have given me much more than physical sensations to treasure."

Leaning into Atem's touch, Yugi could almost believe that the genie felt something for him. Maybe not love - he wasn't naïve enough to think that Atem could fall as fast as Yugi had - but _something_, some affection. There was warmth in his voice and caring in the caress of his fingers.

Yugi shivered. "You don't have to say that."

"You think I don't mean it?" Atem edged closer, fingers sliding into Yugi's hair, holding him steady while he re-traced the line his fingers had drawn, this time with his lips and tongue. He spoke softly between kisses, his breath hot against Yugi's skin. "I have never lied to you. I see no reason to start now."

"Not-" Yugi sucked in a sharp breath as Atem's clever mouth teased his earlobe. "Not even to spare my feelings?"

"Why would I seek to spare your feelings if I didn't care for you?" Atem leaned back just far enough to meet Yugi's gaze. "For centuries, I have felt nothing but contempt for humans. I believed them all to be greedy creatures without exception, undeserving of consideration. But you have shown me kindness and...friendship." His thumbs stroked a heated path along Yugi's collarbone, leaving sparks of electricity in their wake. "How could I do any less in return?"

So, they were friends... with benefits? A part of Yugi flinched at that description, even as he acknowledged its probable accuracy. It wasn't what he wanted, or, rather, not _all_ he wanted. He wanted the whole package, true love and a happy ending. He wanted Atem to know that he loved him, and he wanted to know that Atem loved him in return. But he couldn't have that. He had to be realistic. Atem was a genie bound to a magic puzzle and, at some point, the curse was going to reclaim him. It would suck him back into imprisonment in that awful shadow realm and Yugi would be alone. More alone than he'd been since he'd lost his family, because now he would know exactly what he was missing.

"Friendship is good," Yugi allowed, firmly squashing his longing for more. "I know that this, whatever it is we have, is only temporary."

Even if Atem were so inclined, it was impossible for it to be anything else. Yugi had never really hated anyone in his life, but he was willing to make an exception in Bakura's case because, thanks to that long-dead sorcerer, a happily-ever-after with Atem was not in Yugi's future.

"Yeah, it's going to hurt like hell when you leave, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying what we have. Knowing we have a limited time together, I want to make every second count."

"As do I." Atem pressed a tender kiss to Yugi's lips and then sat back. "Shall we get these statues back where they belong so that we can concentrate on maximizing those remaining seconds?"

Yugi's reply was a breathless "okay." He leaned around Atem to take another look at the statues in question. "What do we need to do?"

"Well, I-" Atem fell silent. He had turned to follow the direction of Yugi's gaze and was now staring at the trio of effigies. His body went rigid and still, as if carved of wood itself.

"Atem? What's wrong?"

"_Bakura_!" The name exploded from Atem's lips and he shot to his feet, glaring at the nearest of the three statues as if he would like to set it on fire with the power of his gaze. Before Yugi could intervene to make sure the genie didn't actually use his magic to reduce the precious statues to ash, Atem added, "These are my brother's _ka_ statues!"

Yugi's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"As if I could be mistaken. His is one image that is _seared_ into my memory."

Armed with this new knowledge, Yugi studied the statues. They were exactly as he remembered them: just over five-and-a-half feet tall, dressed in the carved representations of princely robes and jewelry, with life-like rock crystal eyes and startling, white-painted hair.

"This is what Bakura looked like?"

"Oh, yes. It's him all right." Atem ground out the words as he stalked around the wooden trio like a predator circling potential prey. "If the likeness wasn't enough, the inscription-" He pointed to the hieroglyphs carved into the front apron of the kilt. "-proves it."

"What does it say?" Yugi was ashamed to admit it, but he had never learned to read the hieroglyphic writing beyond recognizing a few famous names.

Atem gave an inelegant snort. "Other than a lot of self-aggrandizement?" He bent to point out a specific collection of hieroglyphs. "Here's his name: 'Bakura, son of the Horus Akhnumkhanen, of his body.' Damn him. Will I never be rid of his malignant influence?"

Yugi hugged himself as a chill worked its way along his spine. "How did Bakura's _ka_ statues end up in Anatolia?"

"His mother was a Hittite princess. Perhaps, he planned to be buried in her homeland." Atem frowned. "Although, if he wanted a Hittite burial, why bother with these? And, if he wanted a proper Egyptian burial-" Atem's tone made it clear he thought any other kind a travesty. "-why exile his spirit to a barbarian land?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Yugi found himself suppressing a grin. In Atem's question, he heard the echoes of an ancient prince horrified at the idea of his body being laid to rest outside the borders of his beloved Egypt. "Could he have had another reason for wanting to keep the statues with him?"

Atem stroked his chin as he considered the question. "I suppose so. Though what it might be, I've no idea."

"Since he's long gone, I suppose we'll never know." Stepping up beside Atem, Yugi slid an arm around his genie's waist. "The sooner we get these things back where they belong, the better. It's making me incredibly paranoid to have them here like this. What if someone sees them? What if someone _steals_ them again? I'd hate to come this close to absolution just to end up back at square one."

The genie smirked at him. "_Alakazam_."

Golden light flared (Yugi had a feeling Atem was showing off a bit, as flashy light shows hadn't been a part of his earlier parlor tricks) and, when the blinding brightness faded, the statues were gone. Panic stabbed like an ice spear through Yugi's stomach. Arm tightening its hold on Atem, Yugi demanded, "Where'd they go?"

Wrapping his own arm around Yugi in turn, Atem led him over to the fireplace and pointed out the new trio of wooden figurines on the mantle. "No one will associate six-inch miniatures with the missing full-sized statues."

The genie was probably right, but Yugi gave him a well-deserved poke in the ribs for the smug tone in which the observation was delivered. At least he'd 'alakazam-ed' this time. "There's never a dull moment with you around, is there?"

"I have been called many things, my darling master, but 'dull' is not one of them."

_Darling master_? The words set off fresh heat in Yugi's face and a spate of butterflies Riverdancing in his stomach. Ignoring them both, he opened his mouth to try to get the conversation back on track - and was forestalled by the ringing of the doorbell. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed at the interruption.

"Maybe your next wish should be for a butler." It seemed that Atem was coming down firmly on the _annoyed_ side of the equation.

"Why do I need a butler? I have you, don't I?"

"You can have me right now, if you like." Atem's husky voice and hooded eyes almost made Yugi blurt out a wish for whoever was at the door to take an unscheduled trip to the Bahamas. (Or anywhere but here, really.) Atem licked his lips, leaning closer to Yugi, that familiar, wicked glint returning to his eyes. "But, really, master... You'd rather have me as a butler than a bed partner?"

Yugi took a blissful moment to picture the genie in his bed. Unfortunately, right on the heels of that came the far-less-pleasant image of Atem interacting with whatever unsuspecting visitor was darkening the doorstep. It was not a vision for the faint of heart. Words like "neighborhood watch," "psychiatric evaluation," and "arrest warrant" sprang to mind in conjunction with said vision.

"On second thought, why don't you wait here and _I'll_ go see who's at the door?"

Atem smirked.

With a roll of his eyes, Yugi headed for the door, where the ringing of the bell had been replaced with the pounding of an impatient fist against wood.

"Jeez, I'm coming already," Yugi muttered, a frown settling into place as he swung open the door to confront his impatient caller. He found himself doing a credible imitation of a fish (mouth opening and closing in astonishment) at the cluster of unexpected visitors gathered on his doorstep: Téa, Joey, and Tristan, who were all arguing with... "_Seto_?"

"Did you invite this guy over, Yug'?" Joey had taken up a pugilistic stance, blocking Seto from getting any closer to the door.

"That's none of your business, Wheeler," Seto snapped, sparing him a dark glance before turning his attention to Yugi. "Do I need an invitation to visit my friend?"

"Of course not, but-"

"You'll have to take a number and move to the back of the line, Kaiba." Téa and Tristan flanked Joey, the three of them easily blocking the doorstep. "We were here first."

Yugi bounced on his toes, trying to see over the blockade his friends had formed. It was a disconcerting way to carry on a conversation. "Speaking of which, not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you guys doing here?"

Téa tore her gaze away from glaring at Seto and glanced over her shoulder at Yugi. "Oh, we all felt bad about you and Atem having to bail on movie night, so we brought over some DVDs."

"I brought the popcorn and sodas," Tristan added.

"And I brought Atem a light snack." Joey held up a plastic shopping bag that sagged under the weight of the contents.

Tristan snorted. "You mean you bought out half the candy aisle from the local Safeway."

"That's what I said." Joey grinned. "I just hope half is enough. I've seen that guy eat. Anyone that can out-scarf Joey Wheeler deserves respect - and his own personal supply of Sugar Babies."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to deprive you and Atem of your God-given right to eat yourselves into a sugar coma."

"Damn straight!"

"I think all that sugar has rotted your brain." Seto's growled insult dragged all their attention back to him.

"Nobody asked _you_, you-"

"Guys!" Yugi managed to elbow his way through the human barrier in order to get between Joey and Seto. "Why don't you go inside and set up the movie? I'll be there in a minute."

"Oh, c'mon, Yugi! You're not gonna listen to this jerk, are ya?"

"It's okay, Joey. Really." Yugi held Seto's gaze. "We're just going to talk."

"Yeah, sure..."

Tristan touched Yugi's shoulder. "You're sure about this, Yugi?"

"Yeah."

Tristan nodded. He shared a look with Tea. The two of them grabbed Joey and (over his very vocal protests) hustled him into the house, leaving Yugi alone with Seto Kaiba.

"What are you really doing here, Seto?" It wasn't an accusation. Yugi was genuinely curious. Yet again, Seto was surprising him with his unusual behavior.

Seto smirked at him. "We're friends, aren't we? Isn't this what friends do? 'Hang out'?"

"Uh... Sure." First _friends_ and now _hang out_? What the hell was going on with Seto's unexpected expansion of his social-interaction vocabulary? Not even twenty-four hours ago, Yugi would've said that Seto Kaiba would voluntarily agree to pal around with Yugi's other friends at about the same time Atem learned how to look frumpy and unattractive: in other words, about five minutes after never. He squinted up at the taller man. "Are you feeling all right? You didn't, I dunno, fall and hit your head or something?"

Seto looked torn between being amused and affronted. "...What?"

"Sorry, it's just... You haven't been yourself lately." Yugi shook his head. "I mean, you've never wanted to 'hang out' with my other friends before."

Seto gave him a look that quite clearly said he didn't want to _now_. "I'm not here to apply for membership in your little geek squad, Yugi. I came to see _you_." He sighed. "Although, since the others are here, I suppose I'll have to endure their company, as well."

"Um...Okay?"

"Don't sound so pleased." Seto rolled his eyes. "Keep this up and you're going to make me think you don't want to see me."

"It's not that! I'm just really, _really_ surprised, that's all." Yugi scratched the back of his neck, stalling for time while he tried to figure out what was going on and what he should do about it. Finally deciding to just go with it, he said, "So, you're going to join us for movie night?"

"Is that an invitation?"

"Hell no!" Joey shouted from inside the house. "Tell moneybags to go rent his own movie. Hell, he can rent his own damn theater. We don't need him bringin' down the tone of the proceedings."

Seto snorted. "Who fed _him_ a thesaurus?"

"I know words!" Whatever else Joey might have added was muffled, presumably by Tristan's hand over his mouth.

Yugi shook his head. "Of course you're welcome to join us, Seto. I'm just surprised that you'd want to."

Looking past him into the house, an indecipherable look in his blue eyes, Seto chuckled. "Trust me, Yugi. Right now, I'm _exactly_ where I want to be."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A few minutes later, Yugi was sitting on the sofa with Atem beside him, surveying his friends. Joey and Tristan were laying out a junk food buffet on the coffee table in a glorious array of sugar, fat, artificial flavors, and colors not found in nature. Téa alternated between watching them with an expression caught midway between indulgence and horror, and fixing Seto with a gimlet glare. For his part, Seto hovered near the fireplace, his attention apparently drawn to the display of Yugi's keepsakes on the mantle. Seeing him examine one of the miniaturized _ka_ statues, Yugi tensed and reached for Atem's hand, entwining their fingers.

"Yo, rich boy!" Joey lobbed a couple of peanut M&Ms at Seto's head. "What's so fascinating about those do-dads, anyway? You plotting to hijack Yugi's tchotchkes or somethin'?"

Every eye in the room suddenly focused on Seto. Slowly, he drew his hand back from the statuette and sneered at Joey. "Don't be ridiculous, Wheeler."

Atem rose from the sofa, glided over to the fireplace, and scooped up the three statuettes, shifting them so they were out of Seto's reach. "Are you interested in ancient Egyptian art, Kaiba?"

"Hardly," Seto scoffed, glowering at the genie as if offended they were breathing the same air. "I didn't think Yugi was, either. Hence the whole 'classical archaeology' focus." He glanced at Yugi. "Was I wrong?"

Mind going blank, Yugi fumbled for an excuse. Atem answered for him.

"I have a feeling you're wrong about quite a number of things, Kaiba."

Anger flashed in Seto's ice-blue eyes and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He took a single, deliberate step toward Atem. Rather than react to the intimidation like any normal person, Atem merely lifted his chin, his body tensing as if preparing for combat. Yugi squeezed his eyes shut for a second, taking a deep breath and readying himself to launch himself between the two larger men before they could come to blows. He hoped. If he mistimed things, this had the potential to be very... painful.

As if sensing Yugi's incipient martyrdom, Téa elevated herself to 'best friend _ever_' status in Yugi's eyes by verbally stepping into the fray.

"All right! You alpha males can postpone the pissing contest until later." Téa stood, arms akimbo, and fixed them both with the look her male friends had dubbed (though never within her hearing) The Emasculator. "_Some of us_ would like to watch the movie in peace. So sit down, shut up, and have a good time - _or else_. Got it?"

Clearly satisfied that she had them all suitably cowed, she sank back onto the overstuffed armchair and surveyed the room like a queen on her paisley throne. Atem smirked at Seto, scooped up the shrunken _ka_ statues and, cradling them in his arms, returned to Yugi's side. A beat behind him, and wearing an expression more suited to someone sucking on a lemon, Seto took a seat on Yugi's other side.

Yugi felt like a juicy gazelle stuck between a pair of starving lions. In an effort to defuse some of the tension in the room, he turned to Téa. "So, what are we watching?"

"Disney's _Aladdin_."

"Aw, man." Tristan groaned and flopped onto his back on the rug. "Not again!"

Mock-frowning, Téa nudged him in the ribs with her toe. "Says the guy who made us watch _Live Free or Die Hard_ fourteen times in a row."

"I'll have you know, that movie is a modern classic."

"So is _Aladdin_!"

"Yo, Atem..." Joey tilted backward and grinned upside-down at Atem. "You seen this flick before?"

"No. Although, I am familiar with the tale."

"Yeah? Bet this version's not what you're expectin'. The genie's this big blue guy who occasionally crossdresses."

Atem shot Yugi an appalled look. Yugi grinned at him and piped up with, "And he lives inside a magic lamp."

The genie's appalled expression gained definite overtones of "you are _so_ paying for this later." A delicious shiver slithered down Yugi's spine and he mentally rolled his eyes at himself. "Pissed-off genie" should not be an attractive expression on anyone's face, but Atem made it positively mouthwatering. (Yugi was beginning to think there was something seriously wrong with him. Or with Atem. The man exuded some sort of "come hither, Yugi" ray that Yugi was helpless to resist, regardless of what else was going on around them. Yeah, _that_ was his story and he was sticking to it.)

"I like the ending," Téa was saying when he resurfaced from his Atem-addled thoughts. She sighed and put on a deliberately sappy smile, one hand over her heart. "The happily-ever-after."

Atem snorted. "Sure, for Aladdin."

"For the genie, too. Aladdin uses his final wish to set him free," Joey said around a huge mouthful of popcorn.

Téa smacked him. "Gross, Joey! Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Yeah, dude. What were you, raised by wolves?"

Joey howled and threw a handful of popcorn at Tristan, who tackled him into the carpet.

Yugi, feeling Atem freeze beside him, ignored their play-fighting. His own thoughts were in overdrive. Could _he_ do that? Could he use one of his wishes to free Atem? He lurched to his feet, hand gripping Atem's arm to drag the genie with him. "Excuse us for a sec, guys. We'll be right back."

Catcalls and whistles chased them from the room. Tugging Atem after him, Yugi hurried upstairs. He pushed the genie into the bedroom and closed the door behind them before demanding, "Would it work?"

"Would what work?"

"Wishing you free of the curse." _Duh_. "Would it work?"

"Yugi... The curse is the only reason I'm still alive. If you used a wish to remove it, you would also be removing the magic that keeps me as I am. Besides-" Atem's mouth curved in a half-smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "-wishing for your genie's freedom is hardly a selfish action. There would be no direct benefit to you, so I doubt the magic would allow me to grant such a wish."

Biting his tongue to keep from blurting out just how direct a benefit he would find it to have Atem around all the time, Yugi focused on the other part of the problem: keeping Atem alive without the curse. There had to be loophole they could exploit. In the movie, even after Aladdin had set him free, the genie had _stayed_ a genie. Of course, in the movie, the genie seemed to have been that way from the beginning, not a normal man cursed to become a creature of magic.

"Assume for a moment that you _could_ grant the wish. Are you sure you couldn't survive if the curse was removed?" he said after a moment.

"The human body was not designed to live for thousands of years." Moving to the dresser, Atem set the statuettes down on top of it. "Best case scenario? If the magic allowed the wish to be granted, you would end up with a pile of dust or a desiccated mummy instead of a rotting corpse."

_Ew. _Yeah, that was_ definitely_ a deal-breaker. Even if Yugi could find a way around the selfishness clause, a mummified corpse was not what he had in mind for a life-partner. A young, healthy, _human_ Atem, on the other hand, offered a wealth of possibilities (and direct benefits). Maybe he could work with that angle? He set that aside to reflect on later.

"Okay, we'll revisit this conversation sometime when there's not an explosion waiting to happen downstairs." It probably wasn't the best idea to leave Joey and Seto alone for very long, at least not if he wanted to have an intact living room at the end of the evening. Yugi reached for Atem's hand. "Come on. We need to go make sure Seto and Joey haven't killed each other."

"I don't hear any screaming," Atem said, offering what he probably thought was a comforting observation.

Yeah, that was what he found so worrying. Grim-faced, Yugi tugged him toward the door. "Ever hear the expression 'it was too quiet'?"

-o0o-

When they returned to the living room, everyone was more-or-less where they had left them: Joey and Tristan stuffing their faces with junk food, Téa watching them with the kind of horror only someone who counted their daily carb intake was capable of, and Seto sitting stiffly on the sofa, his face a stoic mask that revealed nothing of his thoughts.

Glancing to his left, Yugi saw that Atem was wearing an identical lack of expression. The genie locked gazes with the CEO and Yugi thought he could hear the air crackling with the animosity between them. He wasn't sure why the two men had hated each other on sight, but clearly the situation hadn't improved with repeated exposure.

Without a word, Atem slipped past Yugi and claimed the near end of the sofa for his own.

Yugi briefly considered wishing himself somewhere far, far away from his living room, somewhere peaceful and isolated, like Antarctica. Then he girded his metaphorical loins, paced over to the sofa, and parked himself deliberately in the demilitarized zone (formerly known as the middle cushion). He sat stiffly, all too aware of the heated death-glares sizzling over his head and threatening to set the tips of his hair on fire.

Téa, who had retained control of the remote, started the movie. The four friends had learned early on that allowing any of the guys, even Yugi, to man the remote was a Bad Idea. 'Apocalyptic popcorn battles' bad. In the interest of keeping his home intact and actually being able to watch the movie, Yugi had dubbed Téa "Regina of the Remote" and so she had reigned ever since.

Silence, except for the sounds of vaguely Middle-Eastern music from the television, fell as the movie started. Nothing untoward happened all through the opening scenes, and Yugi began to relax. Then the blue genie appeared and things got a new kind of tense.

Following the antics of the genie on the television screen, Atem went rigid with strain. On Yugi's other side, Seto made a derisive sound that managed to convey both contempt and a sort of mean-spirited amusement that Yugi recognized but didn't understand. He hadn't really expected Seto to enjoy the movie, but why did he seem to find Atem's discomfort so satisfying? It wasn't totally out of character for the man (when Seto didn't like someone, he made no attempt to hide it), but it almost seemed as if he knew the truth about Atem and enjoyed watching him squirm.

Hoping to defuse at least half of the hostility, Yugi reached over and took Atem's hand in his, giving the genie's fingers a gentle squeeze. To his surprise, he felt some of the tension drain from Atem as the genie's hand relaxed and long fingers readily entwined with his own.

Tuning out the movie, Yugi turned his thoughts back to the problem of Atem's freedom. He had to assume that Atem was right and simply wishing for his freedom wouldn't work. After all, the genie knew more about his own situation than Yugi ever could. If the magic was all that was keeping Atem alive... Hm. And how could he get around the selfishness clause?

So lost in his thoughts that he didn't even sense the passage of time, Yugi startled when Atem squeezed his hand to garner his attention. He blinked at the genie. "Huh?"

"The movie's over," Atem whispered, leaning close so that his breath tickled Yugi's ear.

Glancing at the television screen, Yugi saw that he was right. He had never been so glad to see a movie's end credits in his entire life. He expelled a relieved sigh and surveyed his assembled friends, somewhat astonished to find them all alive and relatively in one piece.

Joey lay stretched out on the rug, hands on his bloated stomach, groaning the contented groan of a sated sugar addict. Tristan and Tea were play-arguing over who had the thicker accent, Iago or Joey. Seto's attention still seemed focused mostly on Atem, as it had been all through the movie, and he wasn't being all that subtle about it.

Yugi's attention had been divided between Seto and Atem and, though he'd only been confused by Seto, Atem's reactions worried Yugi. The genie had remained on edge and silent as the movie played. His lips pressed into a humorless white line and his eyes had been glacial as they fixed on the colorful images on the television. Clearly, he'd seen nothing amusing in the animated antics of the genie and his young master. Even Seto had cracked a smile or two, but Atem had appeared more irritated than entertained. Feeling bad on Atem's behalf, Yugi had grown more anxious as the movie progressed. Now, he held Atem's hand, thumb massaging the genie's palm, and did his level best to send soothing vibes to his lover.

A piece of hard candy arrowed across the room and smacked Yugi in the forehead, shocking him out of his reverie.

"Yo, Yug'!" Joey frowned up at him from his spot on the floor. "What's eatin' you, man? You look like somebody kicked your puppy."

Everyone but Yugi turned to glare at Seto as if convinced he'd committed some unforgivable act during the past ninety minutes. Seto glared back at them.

"I'm just... tired." All too aware that he was a miserable liar, Yugi faked a yawn. "This has been great, guys, but I think I'd better call it a night and get some sleep. Okay?"

Tea and Tristan exchanged knowing glances. Joey looked like he might argue until Tristan nudged him with the toe of his motorcycle boot and tipped his head toward Atem who had let go of Yugi's hand in order to wrap his arm around Yugi's waist. Catching on, Joey grinned and faked a yawn of his own. It was even less believable than Yugi's.

"_Oooh_, yeah. I getcha." Joey winked and turned his leering grin on Atem. "I guess this means you're enjoying your stay, huh?"

Téa tried not to laugh and only succeeded in inhaling a piece of popcorn. When she stopped coughing, she snickered and asked, "Yeah, Atem, is Yugi still 'benefiting from your services'?"

Yugi gave a second's serious consideration to getting new friends, the kind who would butt out of his love-life. "_Guys_!"

"I think we've humiliated our buddy enough for one day." Tristan smirked as he got to his feet, hauling Joey with him. "Let's get out of here and let these two get some 'sleep'."

Mortified, Yugi shot a quick peek at Atem, but the genie appeared preoccupied and oblivious to the teasing. He remained in the living room while Yugi - with much good-natured ribbing - herded his trio of traitorous friends out onto the front steps. It was only after they had departed that he realized he'd left Seto alone with Atem. Yugi's heart leaped up into his throat. Oh, shit! He bolted back inside.

Taking the turn from the entryway into the living room so sharply that he nearly twisted his ankle, Yugi wasn't sure what to expect. Certainly not to find Seto and Atem where he'd left them: standing at opposite ends of the sofa and glaring at one another as if attempting to kill one another with their minds.

"Um, guys?"

"Thanks for a surprisingly _entertaining_ evening, Yugi." Although addressing Yugi, Seto kept his gaze on Atem. His sneering tone held a hidden meaning, but it was one Yugi couldn't decipher.

Brow furrowing with doubt, Yugi asked, "So, you enjoyed the movie?"

"Oh, yes." Seto smirked at Atem. "I never realized how _amusing_ that particular story is."

Atem tensed, fingers curling into a fist.

_Uh-oh_. Yugi's gaze slanted from Atem to Seto, whose smirk widened. Obviously, he'd seen the genie's reaction and, for whatever reason, it pleased him. _Double_ uh-oh. It was starting to look as if Yugi might have to play referee after all.

"Of course, the ending was rather contrived," Seto continued in a casual tone, as if he wasn't deliberately winding Atem as tight as an over-coiled spring. "I mean, who in their right mind would cast aside such a _useful tool_ as a genie?"

Atem hands clenched so tightly that Yugi could practically hear his joints creak. Unable to help himself, Yugi snapped, "Aladdin didn't see Genie as a tool. They were friends."

"A genie is nothing but a tool, a slave to its master's will. You can't be friends with a _thing_."

Yugi had fully expected _someone_ to throw a punch tonight. He just hadn't expected it to be _him_. He stood in shock, clutching his throbbing hand and staring at Seto, who had both hands cupped over his nose. Yugi didn't remember swinging at Seto (and couldn't quite figure out how he'd managed to hit Seto's nose), but the clear evidence left no doubt that he _had_ punched the other man. Yugi's stomach lurched. He staggered and would have fallen if Atem hadn't caught him.

Supporting Yugi with an arm around his shoulders, Atem glared death at Seto. "Leave. _Now_."

The genie's tone left no room for argument and the air around him crackled with barely-restrained magic, raising the hairs on Yugi's arms. Yugi shot a look at Seto. Had he noticed? The taller man lowered his hands, revealing - not the anger or shock that Yugi had anticipated - but a smug satisfaction that settled uneasily in Yugi's stomach like a dose of ice water.

"I'll go," Seto said, gaze still locked with Atem's. "But I _will_ be back."


	15. Chapter 15

Note: I had this chapter written/polished and decided to go ahead and post it early. Thanks to Tex-chan for the beta and feedback. (The next chapter may be delayed due to Real Life wtf-ery. See my forum for details.)

**This chapter contains a love scene between two consenting adult males (Atem/Yugi). **It isn't graphic, but it is a bit more "citrusy" than in my other stories. If this sort of thing bothers you for any reason, please stop reading after the first "Alakazam". It's safe to resume reading after the scene break.**  
**

* * *

Chapter 15

No sooner had the door closed behind Seto than Atem had Yugi's aching hand in both of his, gentle lips caressing Yugi's swollen knuckles. Golden warmth spread from his hand, up through his arm, and down into his torso and legs, easing sore muscles Yugi hadn't even realized that he had strained.

"You didn't have to do that," Atem said, his voice soft.

"Oh, I really did." Anger still percolated in Yugi's stomach. How dare Seto say those horrible things about- His thoughts screeched into a U-turn that left skid marks on his brain. "Oh my god. He knows."

"What?"

"Seto! _He_ _knows_." Yugi turned so that he could grab double-handfuls of Atem's shirt, only vaguely noticing that the action didn't hurt. "Somehow, he's figured out that you're a genie! Oh god, what are we going to do?"

"Calming down would be a good place to start." Steering Yugi over to the sofa, Atem forced him to sit. "Knowing what I am won't do him any good. It's not as if he can take me away from you."

Sucking in a deep breath, Yugi let it out slowly. He let Atem pry his clenched fingers free of Atem's shirt. "He can't?"

"Not until you've made your final wish. If he could get his hands on the puzzle after that, he could try to solve it. But, despite how it may seem, since you managed it so swiftly, the puzzle isn't usually so simple to complete."

This did not have the calming effect Atem clearly intended. Yugi shot to his feet. "We have to go get the puzzle!"

"Yugi-"

"I'm not taking any chances! Not with your safety." Latching on to the genie's arm, Yugi towed him toward the door. "Come on, we have to get to Crawford Hall and find the puzzle before he can get his hands on it."

"Seriously, Yugi, the puzzle won't do him any good until after you've made all your wishes."

"And what about after that? Huh? What about then? You said that if he could solve the puzzle... If he solved the puzzle, he'd be your master, right?"

Atem nodded.

"Since he's apparently lost his mind, I don't intend to let that happen!"

Atem's expression went soft, sending a spike of warmth through Yugi's chest in spite of his panic. When Atem cupped Yugi's face with his palm, Yugi instinctively leaned into the touch. "I cannot tell you how much your care means to me. But, however much you may want to, you can't protect me from those who will come after you."

"I could hide the puzzle-"

But the genie was shaking his head. "When you make your third wish, the puzzle will shatter and vanish. I suppose it's a precaution, to prevent a single master from monopolizing my services."

Of course. The damned magic _would_ make certain that Atem suffered as much as possible, at the hands of many different masters. It probably drew the most unpleasant people it could find to the puzzle. No doubt Yugi finding the thing had been a glitch in the curse's 'program', and it would make certain Atem's next master was a sadist to make up for it. Yugi cursed - long, loud, and heart-felt. Eyes closed, body tensed, he let Atem wrap his arms around him and tuck him against Atem's chest. He again curled his fingers into the genie's shirt. "There has to be a way..."

The genie's only answer was to tilt Yugi's face up to receive his kiss. It started out tender and almost chaste, just a fleeting brush of soft lips, but it went straight to his groin. A needy moan escaped Yugi's throat. He clung tighter, using his grip on Atem's shirt to lift himself higher, closer. If only he could hold onto Atem forever, never let him go back to that dark place - held in storage when he wasn't granting wishes for selfish masters whose only thoughts were for their own gain. Suddenly, he couldn't get close enough. He wanted to wrap himself around Atem, keep him safe from the magic, from Seto, from all those potential masters who would only use him.

"Let me... Let me..." Yugi managed to pant between the desperate kisses he was pressing to Atem's neck and jaw and lips, wherever he could reach. "Please, let me."

An equally urgent kiss silenced his pleas. Then Atem pulled him impossibly closer, murmured, "Alakazam" against Yugi's lips, and they were sinking into the soft mattress on Yugi's bed.

Gazing down at the man lying beneath him, Yugi felt his breath catch in his throat. If there had ever been any sight more beautiful, more breathtaking, he didn't know what it was. Atem's dark hair spread across the pillow, the pale linen contrasting with his golden skin and making him almost seem to glow in the soft moonlight from the window. His eyes were heavy-lidded with passion, lips parted in invitation. Unable to resist, Yugi leaned down to capture that tantalizing mouth in another kiss, fierce and filled with yearning. He drew back slowly, drawing out their separation, nipping at Atem's full lower lip before releasing it.

He nipped his way down the column of Atem's throat, soothing each love-bite with a tender kiss and the lap of his tongue. Beneath him, Atem whispered encouragement, arching into his touch. With hands and lips, Yugi mapped his lover's body, exploring Atem's broad chest, following its taper as it narrowed to a trim waist and slender hips. He teased Atem's navel, dipping his tongue inside, then followed the faint trail of hair downward to where Atem's arousal waited for him.

Reverently, his fingers caressed the velvety soft skin, gently at first, then adding pressure when Atem moaned his approval. Sliding down, Yugi closed his mouth over the tip and stroked roughly with his tongue. Atem arched off the bed, one hand making an abortive gesture toward Yugi before curling into the sheet as if that grip were the only thing anchoring him to earth.

"Is this all right?" Yugi asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"_Oh god_..." After a moment, Atem raised his head far enough to meet Yugi's gaze. His eyes were dark with need. "It has been thousands of years, beloved. This is _more_ than all right."

The endearment made Yugi's heart stutter and leap into his throat. If only it could mean what he wanted it to mean... He stroked Atem again, watching the way the genie's eyes closed in pleasure. "You'll let me?"

"Of course." A smile curled the corners of Atem's mouth. "I'll let you do whatever you want."

"Even-" Yugi let his free hand drift lower on his lover's body. "-this?"

"Ah!" The surprise, and what sounded like delight, in that single exclamation made Yugi smile. "Oh, _yes_."

God, how he loved this man. Even though he couldn't say it aloud, Yugi bent enthusiastically to the task of showing Atem exactly how he felt about him.

-o0o-

Yugi awoke in stages, gradually becoming aware of his surroundings. He was warm and mostly comfortable. A few stiff muscles protested, unaccustomed to the work-out he'd given them the night before, but somehow that only added to his contentment. Soft sheets, of a thread-count he knew he didn't have in his linen closet, covered him. The fragrance of frankincense greeted him when he drew a deep breath, and he realized his nose was pressed against the side of Atem's neck. In fact, he was using Atem as a living body pillow, every inch of Yugi plastered against every inch of Atem that he could reach. As if, even in sleep, he had sought to anchor the genie to the real world - and to him.

After a moment, he began to take note of the changes Atem had wrought to the bedroom. Delicate, translucent panels of fine white linen hung from a gilded wooden frame that surrounded the bed like a canopy. The gauzy fabric softened Yugi's view of the rest of the room, but even so, he could see the effects of Atem's redecorating. Gone were the shabby, outdated dresser and chest of drawers. In their place sat woven reed baskets and sturdy wooden chests. Before them rested light, gilded wooden chairs carved with lotus buds and blossoms, and clawed feet like those of a leopard. The wood was dark and carved reliefs had been picked out in gold and silver. Between the chairs sat a small, three-legged table, its top brightly painted with a floral motif. On the table, a long wooden box doubled as a game board, with alternating ivory and ebony squares inlaid along its top. Open drawers on each end of the box held cone- and spool-shaped game pieces, ready for play. On the floor was a linen rug woven to resemble a lily pool, with flowering plants all along the border and darting fish at its center.

Sensing Atem's gaze, Yugi turned his head to find his lover watching him, lips curved in a faint, indulgent smile. Yugi pretended to frown. "Is this a comment on my lack of mad interior decorating skills?"

A lazy shift of Atem's gaze took in the changed bedroom. "Not really. I just..." He shrugged, refusing to meet Yugi's eyes again. "It's comforting. Familiar surroundings... I can change it back, if it bothers you."

"Don't be stupid." Yugi poked him gently in the ribs. "If it makes you feel better, I'm all for it." It wasn't as if he had to worry about anyone barging unannounced into the bedroom and getting an eyeful. So, where was the harm? "Leave it like this for as long as you like."

"Really?" Atem finally looked at him, if only to give him a skeptical frown. "I know you don't like ancient Egypt..."

"I've developed a new appreciation for it, actually." Yugi snuggled back down into his genie's embrace. "Was this your bedroom when you were a prince?"

"One of them." One of Atem's hands began to lightly stroke along the bare curve of Yugi's spine. He gave a little shiver of appreciation. "This was in my apartment at my father's palace at Waset."

"It looks comfortable." And luxurious, although that was hardly surprising for the bed chamber of a royal son. The room was larger than the room it replaced, with soothing, blue-painted plaster walls and small, high windows to keep out the heat of the day while still allowing in light and fresh air. The furniture was exquisite, obviously the work of master craftsmen, and the sheer amount of wood on display was staggering to an archaeologist like Yugi, who knew how rare hard woods were in ancient Egypt. Atem had clearly been a favored son.

Thinking that made Yugi curious about something else. "Did you have a big family?"

"I had many siblings. Sisters, as well as brothers."

An only child, Yugi had always rather envied those with large families. Becoming an orphan had only increased his wish for siblings. In some ways, Joey, Tristan, and Téa filled that role to the bursting, but there were times when he still longed for the ties of blood to bind him to _someone_. "Tell me about them?"

"Very well." Atem shifted, gently rearranging Yugi so that he fit more snugly against Atem's side. "You already know about Bakura. My father was Pharaoh and, as such, he had many wives and concubines, mostly as the result of political alliances. He had thirty children by the time I was born."

"Were all your siblings older than you?"

"No, my sister Amunet was younger." Yugi could hear the smile in his voice. "We called her 'Mana'. She was always hiding from her nurse..." Atem shook himself and continued. "I was the only child of my mother, the Great Royal Wife. She was my father's favorite. But she was of delicate health and died when I was a young child. I have no real memory of her."

"I'm so sorry-"

"My nurse told me wonderful stories about my mother, so I almost feel as if I knew her. Of course, my father chose a new Great Royal Wife, as was required, but he never forgot his fondness for my mother. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think his love for her carried over into his open affection for me. I was indisputably his favorite and some of my siblings resented it."

Atem spoke the last in a dry tone that Yugi had no difficulty interpreting.

"You mean Bakura."

"Yes." Atem gave a harsh laugh. "I never knew just how much he resented it until he tried to kill me."

"Why did he do it? I mean, I guess he didn't like you much, but what did he hope to gain from your death?" Yugi wrapped his arm around Atem's body and hung on, quailing at the thought of any harm coming to his lover.

"He coveted my position as Pharaoh's heir. I was 'Falcon in the Nest' and I would become the Living Horus when my father went West. Bakura believed that title should be his and was jealous of me, of the regard Pharaoh showed me. He never meant for this-" A twisting gesture of one hand indicated his forced descent into genie-dom. "-to happen. He wanted, quite literally, to take my place."

"Huh? How could he do that?"

"Bakura's mother was a Hittite princess who was also a powerful sorceress. She used her foul magic in an attempt to murder Pharaoh, intending to take the Double Crown for her son. Her evil schemes were discovered and she was executed. Bakura would have lost his life as well, but I, naive fool that I was, pleaded for his life. My father spared him because I begged it, which only increased Bakura's resentment."

Yugi rubbed his cheek against Atem's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, I don't mind telling you." Atem pressed a kiss to Yugi's temple. "Talking about it like this, with you... It has lessened the burden of carrying the tale, untold and festering, all these years."

"Then I'm happy to listen, if it helps you."

"It does."

Atem continued his story, telling Yugi about the ambush, Mahaad's betrayal (an event that seemed to confuse Atem as much as it saddened him), and the seven amulets of power that Bakura had planned to use to steal Atem's body and condemn his soul to wander, unjustified, in the desert.

"Would his plan have worked, do you think? Could he have used your body, pretended to be you, and murdered your father?"

"I don't know. My father had no reason to question my loyalty. In my body, Bakura would have been welcomed without reservation into Pharaoh's presence. He would have had every opportunity to carry out his plan."

"So, what do you think went wrong?"

Atem's shrug lifted Yugi's head where it rested against the genie's shoulder. "The spell was working. It was tearing me apart, ripping my soul from my body. The pain... I have never felt anything else like it. It was excruciating. And there was a suffocating darkness all around me..."

"The shadow realm?" Yugi's voice was hushed.

"Perhaps. At the time, all I knew was that I felt as if I were dying. Bakura said he would bind his magic to my body so that he could use it after he had replaced my spirit with his own. His mother probably taught him her vile spells, but something went wrong with the transfer. Instead of expelling my soul, the spell bound it, Bakura's power, my body, and the pyramid amulet together."

Yugi thought about this. It sounded fantastic, but the living proof that it was real lay in his arms. "Could something have interfered with the spell?"

"I don't know. Such things are outside the boundaries of my knowledge. The magic I learned a boy was nothing like it, and the magic now refuses to tell me. All I have are suppositions. Perhaps Mahaad would have known. He was a powerful magician in his own right and something of a scholar. He studied not only our Egyptian magic, but the ways of other peoples, as well." Atem exhaled a tiny laugh. "He could expound on the subject for hours if he could find a willing ear - or a victim who could not run away fast enough."

The fond amusement in Atem's voice was at odds with what he had told Yugi of Mahaad's betrayal at the end. Recalling their earlier conversation, from the night they'd gone to the movie theater, Yugi asked, "You were close, weren't you? Before?"

"We grew up together. Mahaad was the son of one of the regional governors. It was the custom at the time for royal children to be raised with those who would serve as their closest advisors once they reached maturity. If I had lived to become Pharaoh, he would have served in such a position, possibly even become a vizier."

"Yeah, but the way you talk about him, it sounds like he meant more to you than that."

"We were friends." Atem shook his head, as if second-guessing his conviction. "At least, I always thought that we were. Of course, I also thought that my brother returned the filial affections I held for him. I've come to realize that I was, perhaps, not such a good judge of character in my younger days."

"I know the feeling." Yugi snorted, though not without sympathy. At Atem's questioning eyebrow, Yugi explained, "Seto."

Despite the recent ups and downs (mostly _downs_) in their relationship, Yugi still considered Seto his friend. The strangeness was starting not just to worry him, but also to frighten him. He wanted to help Seto, but how could he when he didn't know what was going on? A possible solution occurred to him.

"If I wished for it, could you tell me what's bothering him?"

"How would that be of direct benefit to you?"

"Well, it would ease my mind."

"Sorry, but I don't think the magic will accept that as a benefit." Atem's brow furrowed as he continued to think about Yugi's request. "However, I might be able to use my own magic to give you a clue."

"You could do that?"

"I could try." Cupping Yugi's cheek, Atem cautioned, "It might not work."

"Now?"

"If that's what you-" The growling of Atem's stomach interrupted him. He frowned at it.

Craning his neck, Yugi kissed Atem's chin. "After breakfast, then. Come on. I'll make you pancakes. Which would you prefer, chocolate chip or blueberry?"

He started to rise, but Atem's grip on him pulled him back down. The genie smiled at him. "Your needs come first, my darling master."

"Well, then, I _need_ to make you pancakes." Yugi dropped a kiss onto Atem's lips, then another to the tip of his nose, which wrinkled when Atem laughed. "Go shower and shave, and I'll get the coffee started."

For some reason, that made both of Atem's eyebrows decide to flirt with his hairline. Yugi cocked his head, his own brows furrowing. "What?"

"I need to shave again?" Reaching up, Atem ran his fingers along his jaw, feeling the stubble there. His brows lowered, forming a thoughtful frown. "My beard is growing. I feel hunger and need to sleep..."

Yugi's eyes widened as the implications lined up in his head. "You said you've never experienced any of this before, right? What if... what if you're becoming more-" There was no other way to say it. "-_human_ the longer you remain outside of the shadow realm?"

Atem gaped at him.

"Is it..." Yugi faltered beneath that intense, dark gaze. "Do you think it might be possible?"

"I don't know." Slipping from the bed, Atem conjured a full-length mirror and began to examine his reflection with narrowed eyes. (He forgot to say "Alakazam", but Yugi figured he could let it slide, just this once.) "I have no frame of reference for this. Perhaps it is normal, a consequence, as you suggest, of spending so much time in this reality."

"If you stay here for long enough, do you think you might... Will you become fully human again?"

Atem froze. His back was to Yugi, but Yugi could still see his expression in the mirror. Atem looked like a man torn between desperation and despair. Yugi looked into the genie's bleak eyes and wondered how long ago Atem had lost the ability to hope for his freedom from the curse.

"It can't be that simple." There was a finality in Atem's voice that cut through Yugi's optimism like a machete. There was anger there, too, a cold fury he could hear just beneath the surface. "Fate has a cruel sense of humor if such is the case. If I could have been free centuries - _millennia_ - ago if I had only found a way to linger in the world!"

Atem punctuated this exclamation by slamming his fist into the mirror. Yugi cried out as the glass shattered (Atem must have instinctively put his magic into the blow), and blood began flowing down Atem's arm.

"Oh, my god! Atem!" Yugi flung himself out of the bed - or, at least, tried. Instead, he became tangled in the sheets, flailing when his weak leg failed to support him, and would have tumbled head-first into the carpet if the genie's strong arms hadn't caught him.

Atem set him back on the bed and settled beside him. "Be careful!"

"_Me_? You're the one who's bleeding!" Yugi grabbed Atem's wrist, frantic to examine his injured hand. Before his astonished eyes, the gashes on Atem's knuckles glowed with a faint golden light and sealed themselves, leaving nothing but unmarked skin behind. Yugi gulped and ran his fingertips over the smooth back of Atem's hand. "You can heal yourself?"

"The magic heals me. It's involuntary." Atem scowled at his hand and flexed his fingers. "After all, it wouldn't do for me to escape the curse by dying."

Or by killing himself. Yugi shuddered as his mind filled in the unspoken addendum. He shifted his grip so that their fingers entwined. "I thought you couldn't cure... But I guess that only applies to other people, not yourself."

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well, you couldn't cure Professor Hawkins."

"Because that would not have benefited you directly, not because the magic cannot heal. After you, um, defended my honor-" He gave Yugi's hand a gentle squeeze. "-I healed your hand. And remind me to teach you how to land a punch without injuring yourself too badly. You broke your fingers last night."

"I hate fighting," Yugi said absently. He flexed his hand. It wasn't even bruised, and he vaguely recalled the warmth that had gone through him the night before, when Atem had kissed his knuckles. "So, your magic could heal my hand, but not the Professor?"

"Your hand was a very minor injury, requiring only minor magic. Professor Hawkins' illness is different. I wanted to heal him for you, but my own magic is not strong enough and your wish did not meet the requirements of the 'greater magic' of the curse." After a moment of silence, Atem knelt, his free hand sliding down Yugi's leg to cup his calf. "You could wish for your leg to be healed."

"_What_?"

"Healing your body would be a direct benefit to you. If you wish for it, the magic will allow me to grant it." Atem arched his eyebrows. "You really never considered it?"

"I thought... I mean, with the professor... I never even thought it was possible."

It wasn't something he'd even dared dream, not since he was a little kid. He'd learned all too young that there wasn't anything his family (or the doctors, or even Santa Claus) could do to "make it all better." Funny how, years later, it hadn't even occurred to him that a genie could do what no one else in his life had ever been able to do.

The room appeared to be shaking. It took Yugi a second to realize that was because he was trembling. His chest felt tight and he could barely draw breath to ask, "You can really do that?"

"Forgive me, Yugi. If I had realized, I would have explained sooner." Atem's fingers continued their gentle massage of Yugi's calf muscles as he looked up at Yugi. "Will you wish it?"

Wish it? Wish to be healed, to be normal? To go days at a time with no pain. To walk, to _run_ without pain or mobility aids... Yugi was almost giddy with the possibilities. "I can? I really can?"

"Of course, my darling master." Atem rose and wrapped his arms around Yugi. "Let me do this for you. Let me heal you. All you have to do is wish it."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Let me do this for you. Let me heal you. All you have to do is wish it."

Yugi barely registered the words. His mind was abuzz with possibilities, but caution made him hesitate. He scrubbed a hand over his eyes. "I can't... I need some time..." He took a deep breath and leaned into Atem's comforting embrace. "I need some time to think about this. It's a big change. Huge! I have to..."

Atem stilled Yugi's babble with a tender kiss. "Of course." He grinned. "In the meantime, I believe I was promised pancakes for breakfast."

Laughter bubbled up from somewhere in Yugi's chest. He felt oddly light, as if all those butterflies that had taken up residence in his belly were fluttering their wings at once. The tiny part of his brain not filled with thoughts of running and jumping without pain, spared a second to fear for the weather in China.

"Pancakes. Right!" He stepped back, still clasping Atem's hand, and tugged. "So, what'll it be? Blueberry or chocolate chip? Your wish is my command."

They both froze. His giddiness evaporating, Yugi paled. He hadn't meant the words to be mocking; they'd just slipped out. He risked a peek at the genie. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

Atem's laughter interrupted the apology. "It's okay, Yugi."

Relieved, Yugi pulled him toward the door. "So? Blueberry or chocolate chip?"

"Both."

"You know, it's a good thing you're a genie. Otherwise, with the way you eat, you'd be as big as a house in no time."

"Shut up and make with the pancakes."

"Yes, dear."

-o0o-

After they'd eaten roughly an IHOP's worth of pancakes, Yugi stood at the sink, up to his elbows in soapy water. Sure, he could have let Atem magic the mess away, but he had always found the act of washing dishes to be relaxing and good for focusing his thoughts. And, boy, did he feel in dire need of some focus right now. As he scrubbed the plates clean of the syrupy remains of breakfast, he pondered their current dilemma.

"Your mind is a thousand miles away." Atem's deep voice drew Yugi from his tangled reverie. "What are you mulling over so fiercely?"

"Seto." Gaze on the faded colors of one of his mom's hand-crocheted, Japanese dishcloths as he swished it through the water, Yugi sighed. "It may not seem like it from his recent actions, but he's been a good friend to me over the last year. On his own terms, anyway. Seto really has a hard time doing 'friendship'. I think he doesn't like how vulnerable it makes him.

"But he put himself out there for me. I'll never be able to repay him for going to bat with the other regents for me. He saved my job. Sure, I may've been relegated to tackling the impossible inventory, but if it wasn't for his intervention, I'd be flipping' burgers this summer instead of sorting artifacts. And he's a good listener. He used to let me rant for hours, if I needed to. "

Atem accepted the plate Yugi handed him to rinse and dry. "That does not sound like a man who would resort to petty name-calling."

"That's just it. He's not! It's not like him at all. I know I hurt him, so I'm not all that surprised he lashed out at me. But the way he did it, calling me a 'cripple'... That wasn't Seto. Maybe when he was a kid, he might have done it...but now? No way. He'd have come up with something subtle and cutting, not a schoolyard taunt. And that phone call afterward? That was just bizarre. This... all that's been happening... It's just not the Seto I thought I knew." Yugi shifted so that he could look Atem in the eyes. "Of course, last night pretty much threw everything I thought I knew about him out the window, anyway."

Bending closer, Atem nuzzled Yugi's cheek. It was an oddly comforting gesture and Yugi leaned into the caress.

"Okay." The genie dropped a chaste kiss on Yugi's nose before resuming his assigned task. "So, why do you think he came here last evening?"

"That's what I was trying to figure out. Seto doesn't like people, and he _especially_ doesn't like Joey or Téa. He'd never willingly subject himself to their company for a few minutes, much less for hours. I mean, just to watch a movie? It doesn't make any sense."

Yugi was silent for a moment. Now that he thought about it, Seto had been acting 'off' for a while, not just since that disastrous date. In fact, it had started when Seto returned from Turkey. He had gone there to see if he could find anything to help clear Yugi's name of the theft charges. It was shortly after his return that he had asked Yugi out. Come to think of it, even _that_ was kind of strange. They had been friends before that, but Seto had never expressed an interest in being anything more. The invitation to dinner and a movie had come out of left field, but Yugi had been feeling so depressed (and, yes, lonely) that he had accepted without much thought for the oddity. Now, he was regretting his impulsiveness.

Having finished the dishes as they talked, Yugi let the water out of the sink and wrung out the crocheted _tawashi_, draping it over the faucet to dry. "Okay, so it looks like Seto's figured out – or at least suspects – the truth about you."

"He certainly seemed to," Atem agreed, mouth turned down in a deep frown.

"Yeah... You said that, even if he gets his hands on the puzzle, he can't use it to control you?"

"He... shouldn't be able to." For the first time, the genie looked a bit uncertain. "It's never worked that way for anyone else."

"Why am I hearing a 'but' in that statement?"

"But... What if he wants the puzzle for some other reason?"

Yugi's eyes widened. "Like what?"

"I don't know."

They had both begun to pace, passing each other heading in opposite directions as they worried at the conundrum.

Finally, Yugi slammed on the brakes and spun around to face Atem, stopping so fast he almost collided with his lover when Atem didn't immediately correct for the sudden change of direction.

"Okay," Yugi said, in a take-charge tone of voice. "We're not taking any chances with your safety, so here's what we're going to do. We're going to retrieve the puzzle and put it somewhere Seto can't get hold of it."

"If that's what you want. I'm still not convinced it's a real problem. How would he know where to even look for the puzzle?"

"How does he know you're a genie? As for finding the puzzle... I learned a long time ago never to underestimate Seto Kaiba." Still, maybe Atem was right. How _would_ Seto know where to begin looking for the... And then a terrible thought hit Yugi. "The inventory!"

"What?"

"You said _every_ object in every room... Is the puzzle included in the inventory?"

"I..." Hesitating, Atem frowned. "I don't _think_ so."

"You don't know?"

"I admit, I let the magic take care of the details. It _might_ have included the puzzle, although I don't think it would. After all, the puzzle's presence is transitory. It's going to disappear soon."

"Don't remind me. I hate thinking about you leaving." Shaking himself, Yugi added, "This means we don't have much time. He could check the inventory and, if the puzzle's in there, it would lead him straight to it. Your magic was too damn thorough." Near panic, Yugi suddenly realized he was forgetting something important. Like the fact that... "You're a genie! You can just magic the puzzle here."

When nothing happened, he eyed Atem in surprise. "Well? What are you waiting for? Alakazam, already!"

"Unfortunately, my magic cannot directly affect the puzzle. Otherwise, I would have destroyed the cursed thing centuries ago."

Right. Why was nothing ever simple? Pausing only long enough to snatch up the cane he'd left propped against the wall, Yugi began a hobbling sprint for the door. "Okay, fine. We'll just have to break a few traffic laws, 'cause I want to get there as quick as humanly possible."

"Or I could just magic us there." At Yugi's look, Atem added, "I may not be able to bring the puzzle here to us, but there's nothing preventing me from taking us to the puzzle."

"Other than the fact that your little teleportation trick nearly gives me a coronary every time you use it, you mean. Besides, what if somebody saw us? We can't risk blipping in and out of thin air like that."

"Why not? I can always make them forget they had seen us."

"We are not the Men in Black! We can't go around messing with people's memories!"

Scowling down at him, Atem said, "What does the color of our clothing have to do with anything?"

"You- It- We are _so_ having our own version of movie night once we have the puzzle safely at home."

When Atem simply stared at him for a long moment, Yugi hastily replayed the last few seconds of conversation over in his mind, but couldn't figure out what he might have said to earn that particular expression, which appeared caught halfway between _fond_ and _bemused_. Then Atem smiled and slid an arm around Yugi's shoulders to give him a gentle squeeze.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart." The genie grinned. "But I'm driving."

-o0o-

Atem parked the car in the lot behind Crawford Hall, and Yugi tumbled out of the door, only Atem's quick reflexes saving him from face-planting onto the asphalt. Yugi groaned. "You are _never_ getting behind a steering wheel again!"

Atem frowned down at the man dangling limply in his arms. "My driving is not _that_ bad."

"On what plane of reality?" Yugi groaned, twisting to shoot the genie an incredulous glance. Atem made demolition derby drivers look like the fabled little old lady from Pasadena. It was surely only thanks to divine intervention (and the judicious application of magic) that they'd made it to the school in one piece. After a moment, Yugi's wobbly legs decided to resume supporting his weight. Holding out his hand, he snapped his fingers in a gesture that brooked no arguments. "Give me the keys. For the sake of my poor abused nerves, _I'll_ be the one driving us home."

"It's not my fault that stupid silver Volvo cut me off at the intersection!"

"_It's your fault you_ _turned it into a donkey cart_."

"A donkey cart is about all that driver could handle." Atem gave a haughty sniff. "I did him a favor."

"Argh!" Throwing his hands up in the air and giving it up as a lost cause, Yugi limped toward the faculty entrance at the back of the building. Less grand than the public entrance at the front, it had the saving grace of being a mere dozen steps from a service elevator.

Atem caught up with him half that distance later and offered the cane Yugi was certain he'd forgotten to bring along from the car. He accepted it with a grateful smile and leaned his weight on it, taking some of the strain off his weak leg.

Frowning down at him, Atem asked, "Would it not be easier to allow me to conjure us directly to the floor where we left the puzzle?"

"Didn't we already have this conversation? We'll take the elevator like normal people. Somebody could see us— And, no! You can't erase their memories if they do. "

As if to prove Yugi's point about being observed by random passers-by, a young male voice called out, "Yugi! Hey, Yugi – Wait up!"

Looking back toward the source of the shout, Yugi's eyes widened as the last person he'd expected to run into at Crawford Hall hurried toward him.

-o0o-

* * *

Not the longest chapter, but since it's been so long since I was able to update this story, I figured you guys might like it anyway. :)

ETA: A big "thank you!" to Kurama no Miko2003 for pointing out that I accidentally called Atem "Yami" several times in this chapter (the perils of flying without a beta reader, my friends), an error that I have now corrected.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Following the direction of Yugi's gaze, Atem saw a lanky, dark-haired teenager loping toward them. The boy had gray eyes, the kind of lean build that said he had yet to grow into his broad shoulders and long legs, and a fashion sense that semaphored "college student" with every flap of his dingy, untucked t-shirt.

Yugi's hand tightened on Atem's arm. "Mokuba? What are you doing here?"

"I saw your car outside." Mokuba skidded to a stop in front of them and raked his too-long hair back out of his face. He was panting as if he had run all the way from the parking lot. "I need to talk to you... About Seto."

Through the death-grip on his arm, Atem felt Yugi stiffen. In a wary tone, Yugi asked, "Yeah? What about him?"

"Um, well..." Looking uncomfortable, Mokuba shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and made a show of studying the tile pattern on the floor. "Have you noticed anything, uh, kind of weird about his behavior lately?"

"What do you mean?" Yugi hedged, shooting a worried look at Atem. "What kind of weird behavior?"

Mokuba's expression crumpled. "He won't talk to me, for starters. I mean... He's never exactly been Mr. Conversation, but he's been actively avoiding me since he came back from that trip to Turkey. In fact, he practically threw me out of the house!"

"What?"

"Well... Okay, he told me I should get an apartment, but-" Wide gray eyes implored them to understand his plight. "This from the over-protective big brother who wouldn't even _consider_ letting me live in a dorm room when I started college last fall. Now he's not only telling me I can move out on my own, but he's _insisting_ that I do it? Something is seriously wrong with this picture, Yugi! You're his best friend, so I thought maybe you'd have some idea what's going on."

"Not really..."

"You gotta believe me!"

"Oh, I do." Yugi released his hold on Atem and scrubbed at his face. "He's been acting strangely for awhile now." Softly, as if he were talking to himself, he added, "Some friend I am not to notice before."

Not knowing what to say, but wanting to offer comfort, Atem curled his arm around Yugi's shoulders and drew him closer. The action brought him a sharp look from Mokuba.

"Who's this guy?" The snide tone banished any doubts Atem might have had about the boy's identity. He was definitely Kaiba's brother.

"Oh, um..." An endearing blush painted Yugi's cheeks with color as he darted a glance up through his eyelashes at Atem. "This is Atem Sanesu. He's my—Uh, I mean, he's—"

"I'm his," Atem said firmly. "Let's just leave it at that."

Mokuba's piercing gaze snapped back to Yugi, whose face had gone from pink to flaming red at Atem's declaration. "You broke up with my brother?"

"It was... more of a mutual decision." Yugi shifted, clearly uncomfortable with this line of questioning. He tried to change the subject. "Has he done anything else, other than avoid you and tell you to move out?"

"Like that's not enough?" Mokuba shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked the toe of one sneaker at the floor. The rubber sole gave a shrill squeak against the marble tiles. He shrugged. "He's been obsessed with finding those statues you were accused of stealing. I sort of ...happened to see some files on his laptop. He's been talking to some pretty shady people and spending a lot of money trying to locate them."

The look on Yugi's face said that this was news to him. "I didn't know."

"I'm worried about him." Mokuba sent a look of appeal at Yugi. "He's neglecting his work, he barely sleeps... All he does is hunt for those statues. Will you talk to him?"

"It might not do much good," Yugi admitted. "We didn't exactly part on the best of terms."

Clearly, Atem's master was also a master of understatement if punching someone in the nose equated to "not the best of terms." He suppressed a smirk and tuned out the rest of the conversation. He could feel the puzzle's presence, its dark aura a malevolent force scratching at the edges of his magic, trying to find a claw-hold to hook him back. The ghosts of his shadowy prison whispered at the far reaches of his mind – _you are nothing, worthless, slave, tool _– and he shuddered in revulsion.

"—Atem?" A warm hand clutched at his shoulder, and a soft voice filled with worry (_affection_?) called him back to the present. "Atem? Are you all right?"

With a sharp intake of breath, the genie came back to himself. He was startled to realize he had fallen to his knees, one hand braced against the floor the only thing keeping him from smashing his face on the tiles. Despite the stuffiness of the air in this little used lobby, he shivered from the remembered chill of his formless prison. When he spoke, his voice rasped from a dry throat. "I'm fine."

"You're not." There was fear in Yugi's eyes, a tremor in the hand still resting on Atem's shoulder. "Let's get what we came for and get the hell out of here."

"I'm not sure that will help," Atem muttered, but accepted Yugi's assistance in regaining his feet. He braced himself for a moment, breathing deeply and trying to find his equilibrium. "I know where the puzzle is."

Yugi stared at him. "Why am I suddenly not so sure that's a good thing?"

It occurred to Atem that this wasn't a conversation they should have in front of an audience. He drew himself up and glanced around, but found they were alone. "What happened to the kid?"

"He left. I'm more worried about what happened to _you_." Yugi pressed his palm to Atem's face, caressing his cheek and jaw, Yugi's fingers lingering against skin as they trailed along the column of Atem's neck. "You scared about ten years off my life back there. What happened?"

"I think the greater magic is getting impatient with our stalling."

He closed his eyes, fighting a fresh urge to shiver. The icy touch of the other plane seemed to wrap itself around him, chilling him to the bone. To ward off the chill, he tugged Yugi close so he could wrap his arms around him. The thought of losing even these simple pleasures - holding his lover, inhaling his scent - filled Atem with despair. His throat closed, clogged with all the words he could not say.

_Love_, _forever_, _mine_.

As much as he wanted to take Yugi in his arms and declare his love, Atem knew he couldn't. All-too-soon, the magic would compel him back into his prison, forcing him to leave Yugi behind. Atem had no right to confess his growing devotion, as much as he longed to do so. Worse, he had no right to the warmth and contentment that filled him whenever he glimpsed affection for him in Yugi's words or actions. No right to the delight he felt when Yugi responded to Atem's desires with equal passion.

"Perhaps, you should make your second wish," Atem said, thinking, _There may not be time for a third_. But the warning died unspoken on his tongue. Atem licked his suddenly dry lips, forced out words past the lump in his throat. "You should wish for your leg to be healed. Now."

"What?" Disbelief, betrayal, and something for which Atem had no name trembled in Yugi's voice. "Are you suddenly in a hurry for me to make all my wishes? To... go?"

"Don't be stupid." His own fears made Atem snap, magic flaring up around him and sparking off his fingertips, his hair. It pushed back the black aura of the puzzle enough for his thoughts to clear. He drew far enough away so that he could see Yugi's shuttered expression and instantly regretted his hasty words. With gentle fingers, he brushed Yugi's bangs back from his face. "If I could stay with you forever, I would. Never doubt that."

"Then why are you trying to leave me?" Yugi clung to him, burying his face in Atem's shirt. His muffled voice continued, "Making another wish puts you that much closer to going back to that awful place."

"Nothing can stop that, Yugi." Atem pressed a tender kiss to the top of his lover's head. "I can feel the magic trying to reclaim me. I don't want to go, but I think it will not be much longer, regardless of what I want. I can feel the pressure building inside me. The physical changes must have been the first warning sign."

He could feel a growing dampness against his chest. Yugi's embrace tightened almost to the point of pain, though, at that moment, Atem wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.

In a choked voice, Yugi whispered, "What happens next?"

"I think the pressure will continue to build until it becomes too painful to bear. It is what happens if I stray far enough from you that I cannot hear your voice. The pain... I suspect this pain will be much greater - excruciating enough, perhaps, to make me welcome even the shadows." Atem kissed him again, a soft brush of lips against Yugi's temple. "Don't worry. I'm sure I will have enough warning to grant your final wishes before I go."

"My _wishes_?" Eyes blazing, Yugi jerked away. "Like I give a damn about my fucking _wishes_!"

"_I_ give a damn about them!"

Yugi ignored the protest. "It isn't _fair_. I don't want you to go back there, I don't even want-" He scrubbed roughly at his eyes. "Why did this have to happen? Why show me how great everything could be with you and then yank it all away?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare apologize!" Yugi shouted, and then instantly deflated, sagging against Atem's chest. "It's not your fault. _You're_ the great part. It's the stupid magic, the stupid curse. I hate it!"

"I know. I hate it, too. I don't _want_ to leave you."

"Then don't." Yugi's hands fisted in Atem's damp shirt. "Just... _don't_." And then something Atem had said seemed to register through the fog of unhappiness surrounding him, and his gaze sharpened. "...Pain?"

"_Hm_?" Atem murmured, distracted as he nuzzled Yugi's jaw. He didn't want to think about the curse or the puzzle or anything but the man in his arms.

Unfortunately, Yugi had other ideas. He pulled back far enough so that he could glare at the genie. "You said being too far from me causes you pain."

Atem's eyes widened. He hadn't meant to let that particular detail slip out.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yugi appeared devastated by the notion that he had unwittingly contributed to Atem's distress. "I would never have been so careless, so _cavalier_, about that rule if I'd known I was hurting you."

"I know." In the face of Yugi's skeptical look, Atem added, "Well, I know it _now_. At the time, I didn't think you would care."

"You know, I'd really like to go back in time and punch every single one of your former masters in the mouth."

He would do it, too. After all, he had taken on Kaiba without hesitation. Atem gave a fond chuckle. "My _gallant_ master."

"Oh, shut up. You don't get to make fun of me for being angry that people have treated you like crap."

"No," Atem agreed, cupping Yugi's jaw and tilting his face up so that Atem could drop soft kisses onto the corners of his mouth. "I shouldn't tease you about that. Instead, let us retrieve the puzzle and return _home_-" He savored the word, recalling how it had made him feel to hear Yugi use it earlier. "-so that I may properly show you what pleasure it gives me to know you would defend me so."

"...Stop trying to distract me." It was a half-hearted protest at best, as Yugi leaned further into Atem's touch, closing his eyes, breath quickening.

Atem smiled to himself. Perhaps he couldn't proclaim his love in words, but he could declare it with his body. He leaned in for a kiss that was anything but chaste, unable to stifle a moan as Yugi's lips parted eagerly beneath his. He had just begun to think about casting his magic around them to give them the privacy to enjoy one another more fully when Yugi wrenched himself away again.

Atem sighed. "Yugi Mutou, you are a very stubborn man and you frustrate the hell out of me."

"Then we're even, because you frustrate the hell out of me, too." One side of Yugi's lips twitched. "I'm pretty sure that's called 'being in a relationship.'"

In spite of himself, Atem laughed. "Oh, is that what it's called?"

"Yep!"

If the cheer in Yugi's response was forced, the look in his eyes was not. And it finally struck Atem, with the force of a warrior's mace to the chest, what that look was, what it had been all along.

Love.

With a suddenness that left him breathless, Atem knew it. His body trembled and his chest constricted for far different reasons than before. Warmth filled him, chasing away the cloying cold of the shadows, and he felt as if his world were made of joy. For a fleeting moment, he forgot it all – the puzzle, the curse which bound him as its slave, the pain of the shadow realm. In that eternal moment, nothing else mattered but the truth he saw shining in Yugi's eyes.

As impossible as it seemed, Yugi loved him.

_Yugi loved him_.

* * *

Note: I'd like to remind everyone (especially those who have asked to be added to my LJ friend's list) that I have moved my journal to Dreamwidth. I will be posting fic previews, snippets, meta discussion, story and chapter notes, deleted scenes (and possibly "lemons"), etc. there from now on. Account creation is free and currently doesn't require an invite code. Or, you can log-in to DW using your LJ Open ID in order to read and comment. You can find a link to my new journal on my FFnet profile. I hope to see you on Dreamwidth, soon!

Also, I will be deleting my LJ as soon as I can get somewhere with broadband internet, as the site will literally not load on dial-up (which is all that is available in the extremely rural area where I live). Since I cannot access LJ, I have been unable to respond to requests, comments, or PMs through that site. If you want to contact me, please do it through DW from now on. Thanks.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Unaware of Atem's epiphany, Yugi offered him a faint smile. "So... We're back to where it all began, huh? Doesn't seem like it's only been a few days since we first met."

No. It seemed both a lifetime and the merest passing of a heartbeat to Atem. 'The best few days of my life." And not nearly enough. He wanted more days with Yugi; all of them, in fact, though the voice of his heart was whispering that even that would not suffice.

The tips of Yugi's ears turned pink and his gaze flickered away. He bounced once on his toes, as if psyching himself up to move. "Guess we should go find the puzzle so we can get out of here, huh?"

Frankly, Atem would have preferred never to be within a thousand miles of that accursed artifact, but it seemed he had little choice in the matter. Yugi would only be happy once they had retrieved the damned thing, and nothing was more important to Atem than making Yugi happy. They would put the damned thing somewhere safe, and then he could concentrate on making the most of every remaining second he shared with Yugi.

"It's upstairs. On the floor where I first appeared to you."

"How can you tell?"

"I can sense its magic. It... pulls at me, even now." Even at this distance, dark echoes of the puzzle's magic still throbbed through Atem's skull like a building headache. He shook himself and, with determination in his stride, started for the elevator. "Let's get this over with."

-o0o-

Atem led them straight to the puzzle, pulling an oblong carton from the shelf and holding it down to allow Yugi to lift the golden item from its resting place, nestled between a moth-eaten fez and a pack of Zener cards with a "V" scrawled on the case in black magic marker. Oh, yeah. He'd tossed all the weird little objects with no obvious home into that box. He'd planned to sort everything properly... sometime. Later. When he had more time. Or, you know, leave it to the next unfortunate soul the university suckered into this Herculean task. (From the state of the archives, Yugi was certain he wasn't the first to come up with that particular plan.)

Turning the puzzle over in his hands, Yugi watched Atem return the carton to the shelf. It was hard to believe that such a small thing had brought so much chaos (and joy) into his life. Hard to believe that, in a short while, that same object was going to break his heart.

Reminded against his will of what was to come, Yugi returned to Atem's earlier revelation that the magic was warning him their time together was growing short.

"How will it happen?" When Atem turned to look at him, Yugi continued, "When you have to go back to the shadow realm. I mean, a giant, swirling vortex isn't going to appear out of nowhere and just... slurp you up like the last noodle in a bowl of soup or something, is it?"

"...Your mind is a terrifying place, sweetheart." Atem's lips twitched, hiding a smile at Yugi's attempt to lighten the charged atmosphere. "No giant vortices. I promise."

"How can you be sure? You said yourself that you've never been in this exact situation before."

"No, but I think 'watch out for the giant swirling vortex' would be one of the rules the magic would impart to me. Probably in large glowing letters. It does seem to enjoy my... discomfort."

By which he meant "torture." Damn Bakura and his evil magic for doing this to Atem in the first place. If Yugi could go back in time, find the bastard, and stop him before he hurt Atem, he would. Too bad Atem's magic didn't allow for changing things that had already happened, or that would be Wish Number Two on Yugi's list.

"You know I would wish the curse away, if I could. ...Right?"

Atem's gaze softened. "I do know."

He stepped away from the shelf and cupped his hand over Yugi's cheek, his thumb stroking a tender caress over Yugi's lips. Yugi shivered as the sensation kindled a wave of heat that started at the point of contact and flashed toward his groin. He bit back a moan of longing.

"In all the years that I have lived, I have never known anyone like you." Atem's voice was deep and low, as much a caress as the brush of his fingers against Yugi's skin. "I fear I never will again."

"I _know_ I'll never meet anyone else like _you_." And Yugi wasn't referring to Atem's magic or the fact that he was a genie. He was thinking only of the man – a kind and gentle man beneath his armor of sarcasm, strong and yet vulnerable, a passionate man that set Yugi's body aflame as no other lover ever had.

With an impish twinkle in his eyes, Atem mimicked his old arrogance. "Of course not! I am _quite_ singular, after all."

The involuntary laugh escaped as a rather watery snort, and Yugi quickly blinked against the stinging moisture in his eyes. Now was not the time to get maudlin. There would be plenty of time to wallow in his misery once Atem was gone.

"Yes, you are that," he said, instead, giving the genie a playful shove. Atem winced, shifting away, and Yugi's eyes widened. He hadn't shoved the man that hard. "What-?"

"Sorry. The puzzle—"

Now, it was Yugi's turn to wince. "No, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." He backed away, not wanting to give up the comfort of Atem's touch, but even more reluctant to cause him pain. Yugi glared at the source of the problem. The puzzle glinted in the light from the window, somehow managing to make reflected sunlight look smug. "I'm really starting to hate this thing."

"Join the club."

Grimacing, Atem wandered over to the nearest of several tall windows that looked out over the courtyard. The light limned his body in gold and, for a moment, Yugi could imagine Atem as the prince he had been, clothed in finest linen and extravagant jewelry laden with precious metals and gemstones. The picture his imagination painted took Yugi's breath away.

"Yugi?" Atem's voice called Yugi back from his fantasy. Glancing up, he saw that Atem had focused on something specific below their third story vantage point.

Yugi frowned at the tension he could hear in Atem's tone. "What is it?"

"Did Mokuba mention anything about his brother being on campus?"

Ignoring a twinge from his leg as all his muscles tightened in reaction to the sudden flash of anxiety those words evoked, Yugi hurried to join Atem at the window. It was all too easy to pick out Seto's tall form striding toward the front entrance of Crawford Hall. "No, he didn't, but he did say that Seto's been avoiding him. Maybe he didn't know Seto was here."

"Or maybe he called him here." Suspicion hardened the line of Atem's jaw. "Perhaps there has been less avoidance between the brothers than he would have you believe."

"I don't think he'd lie about that..." But if Seto really had been pushing Mokuba away, and had offered him a chance to repair their relationship by spying on Yugi, would Mokuba have taken it? So many strange things had happened lately that Yugi couldn't honestly rule it out. He sighed. "Maybe. I don't know anymore."

It wouldn't have to be Mokuba, of course. Anyone could have spotted Yugi's car or seen him entering the Hall. Seto might even have had someone watching for Yugi, ready to report to Seto if Yugi made an appearance on campus.

No. Yugi shook himself. There was no point in descending into full-blown paranoia. He knew that something was off about his friend, knew – or, at least, strongly suspected – that Seto had somehow figured out the truth about Atem, but that didn't mean he was _stalking_ them, now. "His being here might not have anything to do with us, you know. It could just be a coincidence."

Atem favored him with a repeat performance of the Eyebrow of Ultimate Skepticism.

"Oh, don't give me that look! You don't know any more than I do."

"True. But, unlike you, sweetheart, I am not inclined to give Kaiba the benefit of the doubt."

Yugi felt his face heat up with both embarrassment and pleasure at the casual endearment, even as the butterfly troupe made a return engagement in his stomach. God, if only Atem meant those words the way Yugi wanted him to. As he ducked his head to hide his flush, the sight of the puzzle in his hands reminded of more pressing matters.

"We shouldn't be here when Seto arrives. We don't know for sure what he's discovered about you, but we shouldn't give him any more clues." He held up the puzzle. "Let's get this thing home and figure out what we're going to do next."

Atem nodded. "Is there another way out of this room? If he comes up by the main elevator, we'll encounter him in the hall, if we leave as we came."

"Can't you just 'alakazam' us outta here?"

"Not and take the puzzle with us. Remember, my magic cannot affect it."

Oh, crap. Yugi had forgotten that little twist. And he could hear the mechanical groans of the ancient elevator as it decanted a passenger onto their floor. They were running out of time! He looked around with renewed urgency.

This workroom took up most of the back of the building. It had several doors, but all of them opened onto the central hallway. Unless they wanted to crack open a window and repel down the wall, there was no way to avoid running into Seto on their way out. Maybe they could hide in the maze of shelves until he had accomplished whatever errand brought him here.

Grabbing Atem's hand, Yugi pulled the startled genie behind the nearest set of floor-to-ceiling shelves just as the main door swung open.

* * *

Argh. Edited to fix several typos. (Still have no beta reader, and I was typing while listening to my grandson tell me about his Transformers toys while the G1 cartoon played in the background, so we're lucky this turned out in English and not Cybertronian. ;D) Even though I edit before posting, there are always some mistakes I never spot until I go over it online. ARGH.

And! A quick reminder that I post drabbles, previews, and outtakes (etc.) in my Dreamwidth journal. Look for .org(slash)profile to find me. :)


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Luck was not with them. Yugi had hoped that their fears were unfounded, and that the intruder would be some harmless student or faculty member. But, no. It was Seto, of course.

With no time to make plans or exchange ideas, he simply grabbed Atem and hurried as fast as his legs could manage into the maze of shelving units. The wooden shelves, stained dark with age and layers of polish, reached from floor almost to ceiling and filled the perimeter of the room. If they could maneuver around to the other side of the room, they might be able to create some sort of diversion that would last long enough for them to slip out the exit.

Yugi clutched the puzzle in one hand and Atem's wrist in the other. He knew proximity to the puzzle was causing the genie pain, but Atem made no complaints. He simply soldiered on, alert to danger and sticking close to Yugi's side. If only Atem's magic could affect the damned puzzle. He could make them invisible – but not the puzzle. He could transport them away – but not with the puzzle. As long as Yugi held onto the puzzle, they were stuck with mundane means of escape. But he wasn't willing to abandon the thing now. He couldn't let anyone else get their hands on the puzzle, use to harm the man he loved. It just wasn't going to happen! He needed to keep Atem safe, and to do that, he needed to hang onto the puzzle. And get them out of this building in one piece. That was important, too.

Now, if only fate would, just this once, cut him a break...

They crept as silently as possible among the shelves, clinging to the shadows and listening intently to the echoing thump of Seto's boot heels on the wooden floor.

This game of cat and mouse went on for several minutes, each more tense than the last, Yugi's heart pounding so loudly he was convinced Seto would be able to locate them by that sound alone. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. They were no closer to escape than when they'd started; each time they made progress toward the exit, they were invariably forced to retreat to avoid detection.

With a frantic wave of his hand, Yugi motioned for Atem to return from where he was scouting slightly ahead, peering cautiously around the end of the current row of bookcases. When the genie was close enough, Yugi pulled him down to whisper into his ear. "Make yourself invisible and get out of here!"

Atem scowled at him. "I'm not leaving you."

Staring at the stubborn set of Atem's jaw, Yugi gave up that argument before it even started. Time for Plan B. He thought frantically. "Can you... make some kind of diversion? Distract his attention long enough for us to make it out the door?"

"Maybe."

"Do it."

Atem's eyes took on that farseeing expression that meant he was concentrating on his magic. A moment later, something across the room crashed to the floor in an explosion of sound. Grabbing Atem's hand, Yugi ran for it.

After a few steps, he let go, as blinding pain shot up from his calf, making him stumble. The genie's longer legs took him several strides ahead before he seemed to realize that his shorter partner had fallen behind. Just as Atem turned to look back, Yugi's leg spasmed again, throwing him off balance. He stumbled into a chair, its blunt feet screeching as they skidded across the flooring.

Both Yugi and Atem froze, gazes meeting in horror.

_Shit_. Yugi cast a frantic look around. What if Seto heard that? They had to get out of here! He flapped a hand at Atem, mouthing, _Go, go, go_!

Shaking his head, Atem held out his own hand. _Not without you_.

But when Yugi took a step toward him, his traitorous leg gave out entirely. He hit the floor with a thud, biting back the instinctive cry. The muscles in his leg shivered, writhing beneath the skin, his nerves on fire. Through the veil of agony, it occurred to him that he should have let Atem heal his leg when they'd had the chance.

Even as the thought came to him, Atem was at his side, pressing a glowing hand to his leg. The pain faded as the genie used his magic to stop the spasm, the muscles beneath his touch calming and smoothing from their twisted knots. Yugi gulped in a lungful of air and panted, "Thanks."

Atem answered him with a stern look. "You should—"

"I will. As soon as we have time."

Nodding, Atem helped Yugi to his feet. "Let's go make time, then."

A familiar, cold voice stopped them in their tracks. "Going somewhere?"

Without hesitation, Atem tucked Yugi behind him, putting his body between Yugi and the approaching Seto Kaiba. Which was sweet, but Yugi wasn't playing damsel in distress for anyone, not even his prince. Grimacing, he stepped up beside Atem and tried to ignore the Look (heavily featuring Dual Eyebrows of Disapproval) directed at him. Atem huffed and reached down to take his hand.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me," Seto said, his gaze flickering to the puzzle still clutched in Yugi's hand. He smirked, gaze shifting to Atem. "More than one something, actually."

Atem stiffened. Yugi gave his hand a supportive squeeze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you?" Seto sneered. "Let us not play games. We both know you have my statues, Yugi. I want them."

Surprise stole his voice for a long moment, his brain working at light speed as he spun the pieces of this puzzle around, searching for matching sides. It came together in a flash, and he blurted, "You're Bakura!"

"..._What_?" Atem hissed, eyes wide as he stared at "Seto" in dawning comprehension.

A short bark of laughter burst from Bakura. Lips twisted in a cruel sneer, he drawled, "Such a clever little cripple..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he winced, as if battling some internal discomfort. "He doesn't like it when I call you that. Makes him fight that much harder against my control of his body."

Yugi let out a breath he'd been unaware of holding. He remembered Atem telling him about Bakura's plan to displace his soul and take over his body. It would have killed him. If Bakura had done the same thing to Seto... But he had said that Seto was still in there, fighting him, so there was hope. "Let him go."

Another laugh. "Are you offering yourself as a replacement?"

"If that's what it takes—"

"No!" This time, Atem was less gentle about shoving Yugi behind him. "I won't let you hurt him."

"Still the staunch protector, eh?" Bakura shook his borrowed head. "So predictable, _Your Highness_." He made the title an insult. "As it happens, I am quite content with the vessel I currently occupy. Which means that I consider the both of you disposable."

He drew a handgun from the pocket of his light trenchcoat and aimed at Atem.

"I'm fairly certain this won't actually kill you, brother, but I _know_ it will kill your little lover." Bakura smiled. "Now. Take me to my statues."

-o0o-

Bakura-in-Seto's-body forced them, by way of the gun pressed against Yugi's ribs, to drive him to Yugi's house. Stuffed in the backseat while Bakura perched sideways next to Yugi and, hawk-like, watched them both, Atem alternately fumed and fretted all the way home. He wasn't confident that he could save Yugi should his volatile brother decide to make good on his threat. Perhaps he could disable the gun, but... This close to the puzzle, Atem's magic was unstable. He had barely managed to soothe the cramp that had caused his lover so much pain; he was far less likely to be able to heal a bullet wound. And if the wound were fatal...

Atem shuddered. Bakura caught the movement and smirked at him, giving the gun a little shove so that the nose of it pressed harder into Yugi's all too vulnerable flesh.

"You always were stupidly brave, little brother." It was odd, hearing Bakura's words in another's voice. "But I suggest you rein in any heroic impulses you may be suffering. I don't believe even your magician's magic can bring back the dead."

The words sent a chill through Atem. After the initial shiver of horror at the idea of Yugi's death, however, he realized there was something strange about what his brother had said. His brow furrowed. "My 'magician's magic'? What are you talking about, Bakura?"

His brother took his eyes off Yugi long enough to turn a disbelieving stare on Atem. "Seriously? Millennia have passed since that night and you still haven't figured it out?"

That night...? The night of the curse? Atem thought back, seeing past events with new eyes. Bakura had taunted him, then Mahaad—

"You—" Atem's voice choked off. Mahaad's actions that night had shocked him. The man had been a close friend, the brother of his heart if not blood, and he had been willing to give his life for Atem on the battlefield. It had never made sense to him that that same man would turn around and betray him so thoroughly only hours later. He could barely force the words past the lump in his throat. "You murdered him. You forced his soul from his body and used it to—"

Bakura cackled with mirth. "Finally he gets it! Oh, the look on your face. Would that I could hold this image forever."

Fresh determination flooded Atem at the jab. His mind raced as he reconsidered everything he knew about the curse. "You never intended for this to happen. You wanted my body to use as your vessel, but you couldn't force my soul out..." By that point, Mahaad was dead, but his spirit had lingered. "Mahaad interfered with your spell, didn't he? Somehow, he twisted it just enough to prevent my death..."

"Bah! That infuriating magician!" Bakura's features were a mask of fury. "He ruined all my plans that night. He must have thrown everything he had left into the spell – his magic, every part of himself that remained – and bound it all up with my magic, the amulet's magic... The backlash destroyed my body, and so drained me that I was forced to take Taduheba as a vessel. It was _years_ before I recovered enough strength to jump to a more appropriate body."

And he must have been doing it ever since, Atem realized, taking a new vessel as the old one faded or became unsuitable. Only... "Your magic's fading, isn't it? The majority of it was bound up in the original spell and became a part of my curse."

Yugi spoke up, his words completing Atem's thoughts. "That's why you want the puzzle. You want to retrieve your magic."

"He'd need the other amulets for that, I think," Atem mused.

"That's why he wants the statues," Yugi said. "I think the other amulets must be hidden inside them."

"My hands aren't free at the moment—" Bakura gave Yugi's side a nudge with gun to underscore his point. "—but pretend I'm golf-clapping at your cleverness."


End file.
